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)

An aerial view of Lake Salt as teams conduct salt extraction works at lake which is a significant portion of Turkiye's salt need is met in Ankara, Turkiye on August 11, 2022. Salt extraction works lasts for about 3 months and continues with the recession of the waters in Lake Salt. The salt extracted from the lake, where salt is produced with a purity of 99 percent, is sent to more than 60 countries. (Photo by Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A new species of monkey found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and identified as Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is seen in this undated photograph from an article published September 12, 2012 in the science journal PLOS One. The monkey was first seen in 2007 by researchers John and Terese Hart of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Research Project. The finding of C. lomamiensis represents only the second new species of African monkey to be discovered in the past 28 years, according to the research article. (Photo by Hart J. A., Detwiler K. M., Gilbert C. C./Reuters)

A Australian green tree frog wearing a small turtle as a hat, keeping its head dry during its swim in Padang West Sumatra, Indonesia in May 2023. The Australian green tree frog grows up to 11 centimetres tall, the males being smaller that the females. They can live to the age of 25 and their colour alters between green, brown and blue depending on their mood. (Photo by Yan Hidayat/Media Drum Images)

A balloon dips into Bald Eagle lake during the 36th Annual Hot Air Balloon Rodeo in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on July 9, 2017. (Photo by Jason Connolly/AFP Photo)

A hummingbird feeds on the nectar from a Mimosa tree in Saugus, Massachusetts on July 30, 2020. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

These young sloth bears hitch a ride on their mother's back as she forages for food in the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in the Indian state of Rajasthan in May 2023. (Photo by Aditya Singh/Solent News)

A mahout bathes his elephant in the river Sabarmati on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India May 21, 2017. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)