Kalep, 5, in a bear costume, participates in parade where his father Johnny Lopez was the Elder Angel, during the Oruro Carnival, a traditional celebration that can be traced back to the indigenous Ito festival, in Oruro, Bolivia February 26, 2022. (Photo by Wara Vargas/Reuters)

“Secrets of the Whales”. Skerry’s photographs celebrate the lives and culture of whales, illuminating recent research and their diverse behaviours. His latest work focuses on four key species: sperm whales, humpbacks, orca and beluga whales. Humpback whales bubble-net feeding off the coast of Alaska. They work cooperatively to feed on herring by blowing a perfect ring of bubbles underwater to form a net encircling the fish. The whales then swim up through the centre of the bubble net with their mouths open. (Photo by Brian Skerry/National Geographic Photo/Visa pour l'Image)

A giant panda named Kai Kai looks on as he opens a gift to celebrate his upcoming 14th birthday at the River Safari wildlife park in Singapore on September 10, 2021. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

A woman takes a selfie photo by the “Friendship of Nations” fountain at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre (VDNKh) in Moscow on October 5, 2023. The fountain was installed at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre (VDNKh), a trade show and amusement park, in 1954, with 16 gilded bronze sculptures of young women representing 16 republics of the USSR around the oval fountain bowl featuring a wheat sheaf. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

Participants make kimchi during an event where soldiers from the US, South Korea and residents collaborated by making the side dish for needy members of the local community in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, about 38 kilometers north of Seoul, on November 22, 2023. Participants produced 2,500 kilograms of fresh kimchi, which was divided into 250 boxes and distributed to needy households in the local community after the event. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

A Chimpanzee is seen with funny expressions at Hanover Zoo on September 27, 2013 in Hanover, Germany. (Photo by Barcroft Media)