Dead sperm whales are seen washed up on a beach on Texel Island, The Netherlands, January 13, 2016. The five sperm whales that beached on the Dutch lsland of Texel on Tuesday have died overnight, Dutch media reported. It is extremely unusual for so many whales to be in Dutch waters, a spokesman for the Ecomare marine centre told local paper Noordhollands Dagblad. Efforts to get the whales back into open water on Tuesday evening failed and rescuers finally withdrew from the beach at around midnight. The area of beach where the whales are has been closed to the public, to minimise the distress to the animals. (Photo by Cris Toala Olivares/Reuters)

A woman takes selfie as municipal workers use cranes to lift carcass of Bryde whale at the Juhu beach, in Mumbai, India, Friday, January 29, 2016. Marine biologists in India were conducting an autopsy on the carcass of 35-foot long Bryde whale that washed ashore on a popular beach in the western city of Mumbai. The beached mammal which appeared to have died at sea two or three days ago was spotted on the beach Thursday by late evening walkers, who informed police. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

Rougine, a 19-year-old female Arab fighter among the Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters, stands in fatigues embracing another colleague near the village of al-Torshan, 20 km on the outskirts of Raqa on February 6, 2017. (Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP Photo)

People enjoy carnival while shouting slogans of female empowerment and anti harrassment in Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 28, 2018. The carnival is marked by a lot of fun, but also has space to talk about more serious things – without losing the good mood. Parading for the first time in São Paulo, the Vaca Profana block proposed a reflection on sieges and machismo. (Photo by Cris Faga/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

From house breaking in Johannesburg to hippos on the loose in Tbilisi to rioters attacking a policewoman in Burundi, Reuters photographers tell the story behind some of the most iconic pictures of the year. Here: Protesters drag a female police officer accused of shooting a protester in the Buterere neighbourhood of Bujumbura, Burundi, May 12, 2015. Goran Tomasevic: Protesters started throwing stones at a group of police, who then started to run away. The policewoman in the photo, Medikintos Inabeza, 33, got left behind and then some protesters started to push her, saying that she had shot a female protestor in the stomach with an AK47 rifle. I didn't see anything of that. There were 5 or 10 protesters pushing the policewoman at first, then others came and joined in. Up to 20 or 30 protesters were surrounding her at one point. The protesters kicked and beat her very badly; I also saw a couple of knives. I thought they were going to kill her... (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

“Jason deCaires Taylor is an English sculptor specialising in the creation of contemporary underwater sculptures which over time develop into artificial coral reefs. Taylor integrates his skills as a conservationist, underwater photographer and scuba diving instructor to produce unique installations that encourage the habitation and growth of corals and marine life”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “The Silent Evolution”. Underwater Sculpture, Museo Subacuático de Arte, Cancun. (Photo by Jason deCaires Taylor/UnderwaterSculpture)

Marine researcher Tomasz Furmanek, 44, from Bøjarnesveien, Norway, takes stunning images while kayaking through various fjords and lakes in the Scandinavian country. During Tomasz’s free time, he works as a freelance photographer traveling around the lakes, fjords and coastal regions of the beautiful country – and capturing breathtaking photographs. Here: Hardangerfjorden, near Ullensvang. (Photo by Thomasz Furmanek/Caters News Agency)

Female police officers from Istanbul's Motorcycled Police Unit wait to search vehicles during a roadside checkpoint operation on March 7, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. The rapid response unit nicknamed Dolphins is used primarily in crime prevention operations and has 25 female officers. 6% of Turkey's 250,000 strong police force are women, March 8 marks International Women's Day. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)