“The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. Newborn pups weigh around 11 kilograms (24 lb) and are 80–85 centimetres (31–33 in) long. After birth, the mother only feeds that pup. During the 12 day nursing period, the mother does not eat, losing up to 3 kilograms (7 lb) per day. Harp seal milk contains up to 48% fat, so pups gain over 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb) per day. During this time, the juvenile's “greycoat” grows in beneath the white neonatal coat, and it weighs 80 pounds (36 kg)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A harp seal pup lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence March 24, 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Palestinians hit injured Israeli settlers, center, detained by Palestinian villagers in a building under construction near the West Bank village of Qusra, southeast of the city of Nablus, Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Palestinians held more than a dozen Israeli settlers for about two hours Tuesday in retaliation for the latest in a string of settler attacks on villages in the area, witnesses said. The military said the chain of events apparently began after Israeli authorities removed an illegally built structure in Esh Kodesh, a rogue Israeli settlement in the area. In recent years, militant settlers have often responded to any attempts by the Israeli military to remove parts of dozens of rogue settlements, or outposts, by attacking Palestinians and their property. The tactic, begun in 2008, is known as “price tag”. (Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/AP Photo)

Some of the most powerful narratives of the past decade have been produced by a forward-thinking generation of women photojournalists as different as the places and the subjects they have covered. National Geographic's “Women of Vision” exhibit features the work of 11 photographers and is on display at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta until January 3, 2016. Here: Nujood Ali stunned the world in 2008 by obtaining a divorce at age 10 in Yemen, striking a blow against forced marriage. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/National Geographic)

“The Rothschild Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) is among the most endangered giraffe subspecies with only a few hundred members in the wild. It is named after the famous family of the Tring Museum's founder, Lord Walter Rothschild, and is also known as the Baringo Giraffe, after the Lake Baringo area of Kenya, or as the Ugandan Giraffe. All of those that are living in the wild are in protected areas in Kenya and Uganda. (Recently it has been proposed that the Rothschild Giraffe is actually a separate species from other giraffes and not a giraffe subspecies).” – Wikipedia

Photo: Margaret, the 10-day-old Giraffestands beside Chester Zoo keeper Tim Rowlands on January 30, 2008, in Chester, England. Margaret is the first Rothschild giraffe born at the zoo. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Meirav Stardinner receives a snake massage from Ada Barak at Barak's snake spa on September 11, 2008 in Talmei Elazar, Israel. Barack's income comes mostly from exhibiting her plants which eat everything from insects to small mammals. She discovered snakes' therapeutic value after letting people hold them after her act “Some people said that holding the snakes made them feel better, relaxed”, she says. “One old lady said it was soothing, like a cold compress”. Now she uses a combination of big snakes for deep massage and little ones for light massage, though all are non-venemous. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

“Echus Chasma is a chasma in the Lunae Planum high plateau north of the Valles Marineris canyon system of Mars. Clay has been found in Echus Chasma that means that water once sat there for a time. Echus Chasma is approximately 100 km long and 10 km wide, with valleys ranging in depth from around 1 km to 4 km”. – Wikipedia

Photo: In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, 2008, The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA's Mars Express. The data was acquired on September 25, 2005. The dark material shows a network of light-coloured, incised valleys that look similar to drainage networks known on Earth. It is still debated whether the valleys originate from precipitation, groundwater springs or liquid or magma flows on the surface. (Photo by ESA via Getty Images)

“Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand soprano, classical crossover artist, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached #1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. Pure is the fastest-selling international début classical album to date, having made Westenra an international star at age 16. In August 2006, she joined the Irish group Celtic Woman, was featured on their Celtic Woman: A New Journey CD and DVD, toured with them on their 2007 Spring Tour, and also was featured on their DVD, The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection, released in 2008”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The world's biggest-selling soprano, Hayley Westenra, has today been announced as the voice of ITV's coverage of this years Rugby World Cup, with her version of “World In Union”. The multi-million selling artist releases her fifth album, “Paradiso”, that has been produced by film composing legend Ennio Morricone, on 29th August. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Abandoned cars are seen around a cross in the village of Tbeti near Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Georgia, July 4, 2015. President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with Georgia's rebel South Ossetia region on March 18 that almost completely integrates it with Russia, alarming Georgia and the West a year after Moscow took over Crimea. Russia won a five-day war with Georgia in 2008 over the fate of South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia. It formally recognizes both regions as independent states and signed a similar treaty with Abkhazia last year. (Photo by Kazbek Basaev/Reuters)