Visitors watch dinosaur models at Haitang Bay Rice Paddy Park on January 24, 2018 in Sanya, Hainan Province of China. The Haitang Bay Rice Paddy Park featuring 323 full-size dinosaur models was officially opened to the public on Thursday. (Photo by Yin Haiming/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

A gull gives its familiar cry on the roof of a beach bar on the Baltic coast on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa)

The sun sets over the Mediterranean sea as a nine-branched Hanukkah menorah (Hanukkiah) is pictured by the coast in Netanya on December 31, 2024. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP Photo)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

An Afghan woman walks along a street covered with snow on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan February 7, 2017. (Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

High-rise buildings are partly covered by heavy fog at Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour Monday, March 20, 2017. Fog blanketing Hong Kong is common in springtime and may greatly affect shipping and aviation. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

Vietnam’s Son Doong cave, the largest in the world, could hold a 40-story skyscraper inside. The pristine ecosystem has its own river and jungle. Despite its size, Son Doong wasn’t discovered until 1991. It was lost again for nearly two decades and was fully explored for the first time in 2009. (Photo by Jason Speth/HuffPost)

Blizzard in the High Peak, Derbyshire, by John Finney: “After a difficult journey in the snow, I made my way from Mam Tor down onto the Great Ridge. As the clouds got darker, I placed the tripod and camera at just the right angle to avoid snow getting onto the lens, and used a flash gun and a relatively slow shutter speed to highlight the fast motion of the blizzard”. Classic view, adult class – winner. (Photo by John Finney/Landscape Photographer of the Year)