This is the moment a diver appears to shake hands with a giant 52ft whale. The divers were just metres away when one humpback whale – which weighs 36,000kg – extends its giant flipper in a peaceful manner. (Photo by Masa Ushioda/SeaPics/Solent News & Photo Agency)

8 May 2001: Ronnie O'Sullivan of England poses for pictures at the Hilton Hotel with the trophy and his girlfriend Bianca Westwood after winning Embassy World Championship Snooker Final in Sheffield.

A visiitor bungee jumps during an outdoor festival to celebrate German Unity Day on the 21st anniversary of German reunification on October 3, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. German Unity Day is a national holiday and marks the day West Germany and East Germany were reunited in 1990 following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

Former Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin performs a flip while throwing the ceremonial first pitch during a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, July 14, 2017, in Anaheim, Calif. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Bathing suit models are shown listening to the radio on the beach, circa 1940's. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

British reality TV personality Scotty T (Scott Timlin) partied at the Aruba Nightlcub in Redcar, England last night, June 11, 2018 and fans couldn't wait to see his new Tattoo. Scotty just whipped down his kegs and showed anyone who asked, with a queue of 200 girls it was quite a night. One girl asking to kiss his bottom whilst most just wanted a glimpse of his new Stephen Bear Tattoo. (Photo by Blackburn/Backgrid)