Guardian of the Mangroves – Overall Winner. Tanya Houppermans, Cuba. A curious American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) swims right up to Tanya, at Gardens of the Queen (Jardines De La Reina), an archipelago off the coast of Cuba. It has been strictly protected since 1996, and is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world. ‍ “The healthy population of American crocodiles is down to the pristine condition of the mangroves and I wanted to capture close ups of this gentle giant in its natural habitat. I hope this image can illustrate that protecting areas like this is so critical”. (Photo by Tanya Griffin Houppermans/Mangrove Photographer of the Year)

A child enjoys yellow gingko leaves outside the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on November 8, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Zhao Jun/China News Service via Getty Images)

People applaud as a delivery robot departs from the Nihonbashi Post Office to deliver traditional New Year's Day cards, during a ceremony in Tokyo on January 1, 2023. (Photo by JIJI Press/AFP Photo)

School girls hold hands while looking out at the Indian Ocean at Galle Face beach in Colombo on December 9, 2022. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

A cow grazes in a field in front of the Nahr Bin Omar oil field and facility near Iraq's southern port city of Basra, on April 4, 2023. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

In this April 13, 2018 photo, motorcycle taxi driver Ricardo Medina, 60, transports vegetable vender Rigoberto Herrera Mendez, left, and coconut vendor Osvaldo Ochoa in Campo Florido, east of Havana, Cuba. The three men expressed hope that new government leadership will improve things, saying the country cannot move backwards. “We survive life with our work”, said Medina. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

The front wheels of a tractor lift off the ground as the driver moves a heavy trailer outside Peshawar, Pakistan February 19, 2018. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

This perfectly-timed GoPro snap captures the moment an angrymagpiecame within inches of a biker, as swooping season takes hold in Australia. The notoriously aggressive bird can be seen flying with its wings tucked in so it looks exactly like a torpedo in the magnificent photograph from Middlemount, Queensland. Retail businesswoman Monique Newton, 53 was riding pillion with a friend when she spied the divebombing bird – but rather than speed off, they slowed down to capture it up close. (Photo by Monique Newton/Caters News Agency)