Aerial photo shows a colorful metasequoia forest at Hongze Lake wetland scenic spot in Suqian, East China's Jiangsu province, November 3, 2024. (Photo by CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Michael Olivant, a Times reader, saw a chance to contribute when a Dalmatian pelican landed on his wife’s head at Lake Kerkini in northern Greece in the first decade of February 2025. (Photo by Michael Olivant/The Times)

Houseboats and charter boats are docked in the ice in the harbor at Fischerhof Eldenburg in the Mecklenburg Lake District, northern Germany, Wednesday, February 19, 2025. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa)

Hollowed pumpkins float on a lake Ludwigsburg Castle on September 19, 2010 in Ludwigsburg, Germany. (Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)

An aerial view shows a Russian Troika, a sledge drawn by three horses, competing on the ice-covered Yenisei River during the annual Ice Derby amateur horse race near the Siberian settlement of Novosyolovo, south of Krasnoyarsk, Russia March 17, 2018. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

“Titanoboa is a genus of snake that lived approximately 58–60 million years ago, during the Paleocene epoch, a 10-million-year period immediately following the dinosaur extinction event. The only known species is the Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the largest snake ever discovered, which supplanted the previous record holder, Gigantophis”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Leah Del Rio views a replica of the prehistoric Titanoboa, the largest snake to ever live, on display at Grand Central Terminal on March 23, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Ten-year-old panda Xin Yue channels Kate Winslet in Titantic at Taihu Lake National Wetland Park in the Jiangsu Province of China.

“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)