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)

Underwater photographer of the year 2020 and wide angle category winner: Frozen Mobile Home by Greg Lecoeur (France) in the Antarctic peninsula, Antarctica. Crabeater seals swim around an iceberg. These massive and mysterious habitats are dynamic kingdoms that support marine life. As they swing and rotate slowly through polar currents, icebergs fertilise the oceans by carrying nutrients from land that spark blooms of phytoplankton, fundamental to the carbon cycle. (Photo by Greg Lecoeur/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

This April 30, 2016 image made available by NOAA shows a deep sea anglerfish living between pillow basalt rock formations, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and Saipan. The ambush predator waits for prey to be attracted by its lure, located between its eyes, and gulps it with its large mouth. (Photo by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via AP Photo)

A South Indian dancer puts finishing touches to his make up as he gets ready to performs a traditional dance during a promotion event for Indian tourism in the Kerala state, in Kolkata, Eastern India, 28 January 2020. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA/EFE)

Indian forest officials and police personnel try to chase away a wild male elephant at Hengrabari area in Guwahati on April 30, 2019. The elephant came down from Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in search of food and later forest official tranquillized it, local media reported. As the pressure of population pushes human habitation closer to forests incidents of wild animals straying into cities is increasingly reported. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

Women practice yoga during a performance on a glass bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pingjiang county, Hunan province, China, November 5, 2015. About hundred yoga fans put on the show to promote the concept of green life and the idea of harmony between human and nature on Thursday, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Revelers take part in SantaCon in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2022. (Photo by David “Dee” Delgado/Reuters)

Sulphur miners haul sulphur up an arduous path out of Indonesia’s Ijen volcano. The average carry out of the volcano is 70 kilograms per load per miner. The all-time record carry was 120 kilograms in one load. Extraordinary numbers given most of the miners only weigh around 55 kilograms. Ijen volcano, Indonesia, 2012. (Photo by Hugh Brown/South West News Service)