“The Africanis is a landrace of South African dogs. It is believed to be of ancient origin, directly descended from hounds and pariah dogs of ancient Africa, introduced into the Nile Valley from the Levant. The Swahili name for the breed is umbwa wa ki-shenzi meaning common or mongrel or “traditional dog”. Africanis is also an umbrella name for all the aboriginal dogs in southern Africa”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Africanis 18. Murraysburg, Western Cape, May 10, 2010. (Photo by Daniel Naudé)

Big wave surfers on their jet skis in front of a surf of a huge wave on the rock of Sao Miguel Arcanjo fort and Nazare lighthouse during a surfing session at Praia do Norte on January 27, 2025 in Nazare, Portugal. (Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Corbis via Getty Images)

People clash with Venezuelan National Guards as they try to cross the border to Colombia over the Francisco de Paula Santander international bridge in Urena, Venezuela December 18, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters)

The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is transported from an assembling hangar to its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, August 31, 2015. The Soyuz is scheduled to blast off with Aidyn Aimbetov of Kazakhstan, Sergei Volkov of Russia and Andreas Mogensen of Denmark to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 2, 2015. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A woman falls as police move in to disperse protesters in Trafalgar Square in London on September 26, 2020, at a “We Do Not Consent!” mass rally against vaccination and government restrictions designed to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, including the wearing of masks and taking tests for the virus. (Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP Photo)

Michael Olivant, a Times reader, saw a chance to contribute when a Dalmatian pelican landed on his wife’s head at Lake Kerkini in northern Greece in the first decade of February 2025. (Photo by Michael Olivant/The Times)