Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)

Models pose in designs from May Quant's collection on a street in London, England, on October 16, 1969. Grania, left, wears the "Shimmy Shimmy," a white rayon dress over matching pants with a shawl. Baba, center, wears "Razzamatazz," a jumpsuit featuring plastic sequins in blue, silver and red on nylon. Linda wears "Muffit," a pink minidress with an old English style floppy mobcap. (Photo by AP Photo)

This photo taken on December 2, 2015 shows a lenticular cloud forming as white streaks from airplanes mark the blue sky, in a rare atmospheric phenomena above the town of Gevgelija on December 2, 2015. Lenticular clouds have been regularly confused for UFOs throughout history due to the their smooth, round or oval lens-shaped structure. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

“The Red-eyed Treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas) is an arboreal hylid native to Neotropical rainforests in Central America. Red-eyed tree frogs, as their name states, have red eyes with vertically narrowed noses, a vibrant green body with yellow and blue vertically striped sides, and orange or yellow webbed feet and toes”. – Wikipedia. (Photo by Donald Quintana)

Visitors enjoy watching the Blue Nemophila flowers bloom during the Golden Week holidays, at Hitachinaka Kaihin Park on May 02, 2010 in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan. Millions of nemophilas blossom across the “Miharashi No Oka” hill at Hitachi Seaside Park for the annual “Nemophila Harmony” flower festival. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

There is an endless bounty of eye-catching gemstones throughout the world and this spectacular boulder opal is one unique beauty that looks like a shimmering crystal encased in a tree fossil. Its opalescent sheen seeps through the cracks of the seemingly wooden rings in lustrous hues of emerald green and aqua blue. Like something out of a fairy tale, the triangular piece radiates through an organic pattern mimicking the growth rings of tree.

“In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris (but also of hair or skin). Although infrequently seen in humans, complete heterochromia is more frequently observed in other species, where it almost always involves one blue eye”. – Wikipedia (Photo by StooMathiesen)