Runner-up; Hon Yen marine ecosystem. Phu Yen, Vietnam. Every year between May and August, the coral of this rich and diverse ecosystem becomes exposed at low tide. (Photo by Truong Hoai Vu/Royal Society of Biology Photography Competition)

Flocks of seagulls swarm small fishing boats in the first decade of January 2024 like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Colonies of Heuglin’s gulls can be seen almost every morning on the Yamuna River in Delhi, India. (Photo by Raghav Rai Ralhan/Solent News)

Revellers are sprayed by a water cannon during a street party called “Bloco Das Barbas” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 18, 2023. Hundreds of street parties traditionally take place every year in the city before and during Rio de Janeiro's carnival. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

Dalmatian pelicans jostle over a fish meal on September 9, 2021. Every year about 100 of the birds fly to feast at Lake Kerkini, central Macedonia, Greece. (Photo by Peter Bradley/Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News)

Costumed participants are seen during an Irish tradition of Hunting of the Wren festival held every St. Stephen's Day in Dingle, Ireland, December 26, 2016. Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day, Day of the Wren, or Hunt the Wren Day is celebrated on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day. The tradition consists of “hunting” a fake wren and putting it on top a decorated pole. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

A devotee dressed as Hindu Lord Shiva waits to participate in a parade during “Kumbh Mela” or the Pitcher Festival in Trimbakeshwar, India, August 18, 2015. The Kumbh Mela takes place four times every 12 years at four different river bank locations in India. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

A common kingfisher sits on a branch of a tree after catching an insect in Allahabad, India, Sunday, July 9, 2017. The common kingfisher is a highly territorial bird that has to eat nearly sixty percent of its bodyweight every day. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

In Omdurman, the largest city in Sudan, the Qadiriyya Sufi order meets every Friday outside Sheikh Hamed Al Nil mosque, which houses the tomb of their 19th century Sufi leader. (Photo by Ala Kheir, John Burns and Ibrahim Algrefwi/Brownbook)