A Thai performer puts his head inside a crocodile's mouth during a media preview performance as part of preparation to reopen Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 19 March 2024. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Colorful hot air balloons glide across the Qicai Danxia scenic area in Zhangye City, northwest China's Gansu Province on August 17, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Crews inflate hot air balloons during the 39th annual New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport Friday, July 29, 2022, in Readington, N.J. The festival, which runs through Sunday, July 31, will feature as many as 100 balloons. (Photo by Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo)

A cosplayer poses for a photograph during the Comic Market 90 (Comiket) event in Tokyo Big Sight on August 12, 2016, Tokyo, Japan. Many manga and anime fans wearing cosplay lined up in the sun for the first day of Comiket. Comiket was established in 1975 and focuses on manga, anime, gaming and cosplay. Organizers expect more than 500,000 visitors to attend this year's summer event which runs for three days until August 14. (Photo by Aflo/Splash News)

A gorilla cube named Pepe eats frozen fruit to fight high temperatures at the Bioparc zoo in Valencia, eastern Spain, 28 June 2019. Spanish peninsula is suffering a heat wave with temperatures reaching up to 45 degrees. (Photo by Kai Foersterling/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Belgian-Dutch racing driver Maz Verstappen was racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka at Suzuka International Circuit on October 9, 2022 when a spider on the camera lens threatened to get in the way of the action. (Photo by DPPI)

Members of the Dominican Armed Forces participate in a commemorative act on the 170th anniversary of national independence at the esplanade of Santo Domingo, on February 27, 2014. (Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA)