Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Performers in costume wait to take part in the carnival on the main Parade day of the Notting Hill Carnival in west London on August 29, 2022. London's Notting Hill carnival celebrates Caribbean culture, at a carnival considered the largest street demonstration in Europe. (Photo by Susannah Ireland/AFP Photo)

Vietnamese troops march during a parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of independence in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, September 2, 2025. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)

A fox cub with some bluebells in some woodland at Wye Valley near Gloucester, United Kingdom on April 29, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Winstone/Picture Exclusive)

A Bangladeshi man carries a duck as he returns to Dhaka after Eid-al-Fitr celebrations, at the Sadarghat launch terminal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 28 April 2023. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival at the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. Eid al-Fitr is one of the two major holidays in Islam. (Photo by Monirul Alam/EPA)

An Afghan Army soldier secures the hill overlooking the Kart-e Sakhi mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Thousands of Afghans will celebrate Nowruz on Thursday, March 21, 2013 to mark the first day of spring and the beginning of the year on the Iranian calendar. (Photo by Ahmad Jamshid/AP Photo)

Alphajet aircraft draw a heart-shaped message in the sky during the 2010 presentation show of the French aerobatics team Patrouille de France, over the French city of Salon-de-Provence. (Photo by Gerard Julien/AFP Photo)