Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

Jesse Larios, 33, from Los Angeles, wears a bear suit while walking along Hollister Road in Gilroy, California, U.S., April 21, 2021. Larios, also known as Bear Sun on social media, is walking from his home in Los Angeles to San Francisco while wearing the bear suit as a social media fundraising event. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters)

Aide Choque, wearing a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, jumps with her skateboard during a youth talent show in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Young women called “Skates Imillas”, using the Aymara word for girl Imilla, use traditional Indigenous clothing as a statement of pride of their Indigenous culture while playing riding their skateboards. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

Members of the public enjoy the sunny weather along the Brighton beach in East Sussex, United Kingdom on July 17, 2022. (Photo by Marcin Nowak/London News Pictures)

A Ukrainian service member smokes near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on February 8, 2023. (Photo by Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Reuters)

A man dressed as the Sesame Street character Big Bird sits on a bench waiting to take pictures with people walking through Central Park in New York U.S., November 14, 2016. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A participant blows on yellow powder held in her hand during a Holi Party before the Gay Pride Parade in Barcelona on July 9, 2016. (Photo by Lluis Gene/AFP Photo)

A visitor feeds a food pellet to a giraffe in the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, Kenya January 15, 2017. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)