A little girl wearing a face mask dances in front of a toy panda at a shopping area in Shanghai, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, China on June 16, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Lightning strikes above Perch Rock Lighthouse in Merseyside, North West England on August 10, 2020. (Photo by Bav Media/The Sun)

A mahout paints his elephant on the eve of the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession, outside the Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad, India on June 19, 2023. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A stray cat walks in front of a ballot box at a polling station for Turkish citizens living abroad, as part of the second round of the Turkish presidential election, at the Turkish Embassy in Cairo, Egypt on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Statuettes in various forms of the lost-wax casting process are seen, including the wax figure, wax mold, shell mold, and patina coated statute of “The Actor” during a media event on the production of the statuettes for the 21th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards at American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California January 13, 2015. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters)

An attendee dances at the start of the “Big Goth Dance Party” during the Porcupine Freedom Festival, or PorcFest, the Free State Project's annual summer gathering in Lancaster, NH on Wednesday, June 25, 2014. (Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/The Washington Post)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

An opposition supporter wearing a costume lies on the ground in front of riot police during a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government and to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2017. The sign reads “Venezuelans starve. There is no food or medicine. The underworld kills us. Get out Maduro”. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)