Autumn colors border a road leading through a small valley near Blankenburg am Harz, Germany, Wednesday, November 1, 2023. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

In this Sunday, March 2, 2014 photo, animal barber Mohamed Mahmoud shaves a customer's initials onto the rump of a donkey in Cairo, Egypt. Clients typically request for regular trims to keep animals cool in the summer, initials in English letters, and patterns – but sometimes they give Mahmoud full creative license. (Photo by Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo)

“The young adult humpback could have a plot waiting for it at a whale graveyard hidden in bushland at Garrigal Garigal National Park”. – Janet Fife-Yeomans via AdelaideNow

Photo: People gather on the beach to see the carcass of a male sub-adult humpback whale that washed up at New Port Beach overnight at Newport Beach overnight on August 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne)

Gabriel Berendo, a businessman and car enthusiast, drives a casket converted into a car on Sunday May 31, 2020 in Cebu city, central Philippines as he goes around streets to remind residents to stay at home as lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus eases next week. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Visitors look at a plastinated human body during the “Body Worlds” exhibition by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens at a pavilion of the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNKh) in Moscow, Russia on March 24, 2021. Head of Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin ordered a probe of the exhibition after it sparked outrage among conservative religious groups and public figure. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)

Ana Louzi and Junio Enriuque dance for a video during sunrise from SUMMIT One Vanderbilt on World Photography Day on August 19, 2022 in New York City. Summit One Vanderbilt opened the 1000-foot observation beginning at 5 AM to allow ticketed members of the general public and photo enthusiasts to see sunrise from the elevated altitude. World Photography Day is an “annual, worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography” according to their website. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Sleeping Anthidium. Female Anthidium punctatum; Size: 7 mm. (Photo by John Hallmén)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)