Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Men try to get control of a bucking horse a Tradition Day rodeo exhibition during, in San Antonio de Areco, Argentina, Sunday, November 13, 2022. Tradition Day, aimed to preserve gaucho traditions, is celebrated to honor the birth of Argentine writer Jose Hernandez, author of the country's national poem, “The Gaucho Martin Fierro”. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

A scuba diver during an ice diving class at the Sea Frogs scuba diving center in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, Russia on January 30, 2022. The air temperature is –11°C (12.2°F), the water temperature is –2°C (28.4°F). Scuba divers undergo theoretical and practical training in ice diving and perform dives in the open water during the day and the night time as part of the Ice Diver NDL special program. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

Thick smoke rises during an eruption from Mount Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano, as seen from Tunggularum village in Sleman on March 11, 2023. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)

A fox cub with some bluebells in some woodland at Wye Valley near Gloucester, United Kingdom on April 29, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Winstone/Picture Exclusive)

Picture dated June 18th, 2023 shows Cambridge University students on their way to the Emmanuel College May Ball in the rain. Hundreds of undergraduates dressed in lavish ball gowns, tuxedos, and even kilts, for the extravagant end-of-term party, which had the theme Where Lyrics Come To Life. The ball, which cost £110 a ticket, featured a rum bar, as well as a host of entertainment, including limbo, belly dancing, a bubbleologist, tarot reading and a magician. (Photo by Bav Media)

Flames burn in a field in Capaci, near Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. On the island of Sicily, two people were found dead Tuesday in a home burned by a wildfire that temporarily shut down Palermo's international airport, according to Italian news reports. Regional officials said 55 fires were active on Sicily, amid temperatures in the 40s Celsius. (Photo by Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP Photo)

A gopher tortoise walks the grounds of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, near the Vehicle Assembly Building on January 18, 2024. An all-European crew including Turkey's first astronaut are poised to blast off to the International Space Station in a mission with Axiom Space, as countries hungry for a taste of space turn increasingly to the private sector. (Photo by Chandan Khanna/AFP Photo)