A lion cub wakes in the morning sun at the Zimanga private game reserve in South Africa on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Calvin Kotze/Animal News Agency)

An alligator and his reflection seen in the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach, Florida on May 2, 2024. The wetlands attract nature lovers and wildlife photographers and are home to more than 140 bird species and a variety of other wildlife. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“Lofoten Glow”. I was desperately searching a good sunrise spot this particular morning. Normally Storvatnet Lake is completely covered in snow, so you can only imagine my surprise when I saw these crazy ice formations almost being shot out of the frozen lake. I put my crampons on and took a big risk walking out. I could hear the ice cracking underneath my feet, and when you’re all alone in a fjord/canyon like this – the cracks are echoed and sound really frightening. Was it worth it? I sure think so! Photo location: Storvatnet, Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway. (Photo and caption by Stian Klo/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A woodpecker and an owl bicker on a tree branch near Bromsgrove in the West Midlands, UK in the second decade of July 2025. The photographer says the juvenile woodpecker, with a red crown, poked the owl in the eye before flying off. (Photo by Julie Yates/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A new book published by the UK Natural History Museum showcases some of the most memorable underwater photographs taken over the last few decades in its annual wildlife photographer of the year competition. Here: Giant gathering by Tony Wu. “The first indication that something extraordinary was going on were the blows, huge numbers of them – the exhalations of huge numbers of whales. Entering the water, the photographer witnessed an extraordinary scene”. (Photo by Tony Wu/Unforgettable Underwater Photography/NHM)

This undated handout photograph released by Stony Brook University/ Louisiana State University on March 2, 2018, shows an Adélie penguin looking at a drone at breeding colony on Heroina Island, Danger Islands, Antarctica. A thriving “hotspot” of some 1.5 million Adelie penguins has been discovered on the remote Danger Islands in the east Antarctic, surprised scientists announced on March 2, 2018. (Photo by Rachael Herman/AFP Photo/Louisiana State University AND Stony Brook University)

A hogweed bonking beetle and yellow dung fly in a stalk standoff (the fly gave in), in Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire, England. (Photo by Rebecca Cole/Alamy Stock Photo)

British underwater photographer of the year – winner. “Love Birds” by Grant Thomas (UK). Location: Luss Pier, Loch Lomond, Scotland. Thomas’s initial idea was to frame a split shot of one swan feeding below the surface of the water but when he noticed how comfortable they were around him he was confident, with some patience, he could get that magical shot of the two. (Photo by Grant Thomas/UPY 2018)