The first seal pup to be born this season at a major colony of grey seals on the Farne Islands sits beside its mother on Brownsman Island, England on September 30, 2015. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images)

“Kilauea Rules”. The most extreme place we put ours kayakers to paddle till now. Photo location: Big Island, Hawaii. (Photo and caption by Alexandre Socci/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

In this Saturday, February 16, 2019 photo, carnival revelers dressed as characters from the movie “La Casa de Papel” pose for a picture during the “Desliga da Justica” block party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “Desliga” means in Portuguese to turn something off, and this street party is a parody of the Justice League. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

ISS Expedition 66 main crew member, actress Yulia Peresild blows a kiss through a bus window as she leaves for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 5, 2021. The launch of the Soyuz MS-19 mission to be involved in making the feature film “The Challenge” (working title) aboard the International Space Station is scheduled for 5 October 2021 at 11:55 Moscow time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS)

A worker looks at Spring Festival decorations ahead of Chinese Lunar New Year festivities in Beijing, China on January 12, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A puffadder snake is guided to safety as firefighters battle a wildfire near Pringle Bay, as firefighters remain on high alert amid dry, hot, and windy weather in Western Cape, South Africa on January 30, 2024. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

Raquel Poti poses for photographers during the “Amigos da Onça” street party on the second day of Carnival on February 10, 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)