Ocean Rebellion activists dressed as Merpeople protest against bottom trawling during a demonstration ahead of the COP26 summit, in Glasgow, Scotland Britain, October 30, 2021. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

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)

Andrew Parkinson, animal behaviour category winner: Crepuscular Contentment, Derbyshire. “In 15 years of working with badgers I’ve never seen a badger sit out in the open to have a scratch. I was sat concealed behind a tree and downwind so it was especially nice that the badger had his back to me, demonstrating just how inconspicuous and inconsequential my presence was”. (Photo by Andrew Parkinson/British Wildlife Photography Awards 2017)

NHRA top fuel driver Spencer Massey explodes the engine of his dragster on fire during the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway on October 17, 2021. Massey was unhurt in the incident. (Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)

A fisherman struggles to push a wheelbarrow full of sharks that have just been dropped off a pirogue on the beach of Songolo, the fishing district of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo in November 2021. Many artisanal fishing crews on the Congolese coast specialise in shark fishing (Photo by Marco Simoncelli/Al Jazeera)

A butterfly flies into the jaws of a crocodile inhabiting the Tarcoles River, the most polluted basin in Central America and one of the most polluted in Latin America, in the place of Tarcoles, province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, 05 June 2018. Costa Rica, a country recognized worldwide for its environmental policies, seeks to be a leader in the replacement of single-use plastic with renewable and compostable alternatives, despite its lag in terms of recycling and integrated waste management. (Photo by Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA/EFE)

Two brown bears bathe in their enclosure at the Wildpark Poing in Poing, Germany, Wednesday, August 8, 2018. (Photo by Lino Mirgeler/Deutsche Presse-Agentur via AP Photo)

Little owl chicks in Northumberland, UK on August 19, 2018. Strutting up and down and barrelling through the air, these Little Owl chicks will soon be fending for themselves. The intense little birds were snapped by wildlife photographer Bill Doherty in his native Northumberland. The chicks have about seven or eight weeks to learn their survival skills before their parents drive them away to fend for themselves. (Photo by Bill Doherty/South West News Service)