“The RSPB’s Snettisham Nature Reserve lies on the edge of The Wash, one of the most important bird estuaries in the United Kingdom. The Wash, on England’s east coast, supports over 300,000 birds, and Snettisham sometimes holds more than a third of them”. – The Palm Beach Post. Photo: Waders flock together seeking new feeding grounds during the incoming tide. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images via The Palm Beach Post)

Tommy Lindsey holds an enormous maple leaf that he found in Mount Vernon, Wash., October 28, 2013. Lindsey was walking with his family when he picked up the leaf that is more than two feet from stem to tip and more than 21 inches wide. (Photo by Frank Varga/The Skagit Valley Herald)

A bolt of lighting strikes over Lewiston, Idaho, behind the Interstate Bridge that spans the Snake River into Clarkston, Wash., on the morning of Thursday, July 1, 2021. Multiple thunderstorms moved through the area on Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. (Photo by Pete Caster/Lewiston Tribune via AP Photo)

A woman whose family members are trapped under rubble wails after a landslide washed away houses in Raigad district, western Maharashtra state, India, Thursday, July 20, 2023. While some people are reported dead many others feared trapped under piles of debris. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

Dionte Gilbert (84) leaps across the finish line against Seth Hirschi, back, during the “T-Rex World Championship Races” at Emerald Downs, Sunday, August 20, 2023, in Auburn, Wash. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo)

A dhobi, or a washerman washes cloths on the banks of the River Gomti in Lucknow, India, Saturday, September 12, 2020. Dhobis are traditional laundry workers who wash clothes by hand and dry them in the sun, an occupation which has been in existence for generations. Most cities in India have a Dhobi Ghat, or washermen's area, where the city's pile of clothes is laundered. This practice is still popular in India, despite of modern technology. Around 1,000 families work in Lucknow's Dhobi Ghat. However, in light of the novel coronavirus, their wages have decreased drastically. With each family earning around US$100-200 per month. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

A traveller washes his horse in the River Eden in preparation for selling at the Appleby Horse Fair on June 3, 2011 in Appleby, England. Appleby Horse Fair has existed under the protection of a charter granted by James II since 1685. It is one of the key gathering points for the Romany, gypsy and traveling community. Appleby Horse Fair is attended by about 5,000 travelers who come to buy and sell horses. The animals are washed and groomed before being ridden at high speed along the “mad mile” for the viewing of potential buyers. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

While vacationing on the Maldives Islands, Taiwanese amateur photographer Will Ho stumbled onto an incredible stretch of beach covered in millions of bioluminescent phytoplankton. These tiny organisms glow similarly to fireflies and tend to emit light when stressed, such as when waves crash or when they are otherwise agitated. While the phenomenon and its chemical mechanisms have been known for some time, biologists have only recently began to understand the reasons behind it. Photo: Bioluminescent phytoplankton washes up on Maldives beach. (Photo by Will Ho)