Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

Iraqi teenagers swim in waste water from the nearby Tuweitha nuclear facility near Baghdad, Iraq on May 28, 2003. Iraqis are consuming contaminated water unaware of the dangerous pollutants that can cause severe ill health. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Participants dance during the Water Gun Festival on July 07, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea. Thousands of people enjoyed the annual festival which is being held over the weekend during the scorching heat summer in Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A wrestling camel adorned with colourful ornaments takes part in the Camel Beauty Contest ahead of the annual 40th Efes Selcuk Camel Wrestling Festival, in the Aegean town of Selcuk, near Izmir, Turkey on January 15, 2022. (Photo by Murad Sezer/Reuters)

American rapper Tyler, the Creator performs at the Coachella Stage during the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 20, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)

A monument to the character of Darth Vader from "Star Wars", which was rebuilt from a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin, is seen in Odessa, Ukraine, October 23, 2015. The Internet Party of Ukraine's main candidate, a person named for the legendary "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader, campaigned in Odessa, cruising through town on a black van to the sound of Imperial March from "Star Wars" saga. (Photo by Yevgeny Volokin/Reuters)

Two visitors take pictures of autumn leaves at Rikugien Garden Tuesday, December 10, 2019, in the Bunkyo district of Tokyo. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Police officers detain a FEMEN naked activist during an action at the Poland embassy in Kiev on October 26, 2020 in support of Polish women in their right to abortion. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)