Looking for love by Tony Wu, USA. Highly commended, Animal Portraits. “Accentuating his mature appearance with pastel colours, protruding lips and an outstanding pink forehead, this Asian sheepshead wrasse sets out to impress females and see off rivals, which he will head-butt and bite, near Japan’s remote Sado Island. Individuals start out as females, and when they reach a certain age and size – up to a metre (more than 3 feet) long – can transform into males. Long-lived and slow-growing, the species is intrinsically vulnerable to overfishing”. (Photo by Tony Wu/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A model wears a creation for Schiaparelli's Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2024 collection presented in Paris, Monday, January 22, 2024. (Photo by Christophe Ena/AP Photo)

A photographer in Somerset, South West England captured the mating rituals of toads as several males attempt to mate with one female all at once. (Photo by John Waters/NPL)

A drone view shows vehicles in the area affected by the floods, in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on May 3, 2024. (Photo by Diego Vara/Reuters)

A first white-handed gibbon infant born at the Skopje Zoo is seen with his mother in Skopje, North Macedonia on May 9, 2019. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)

Two Chinese farmers got more than they bargained for when they pulled up the root of a fleece flower – and came face-to-face with the doppelganger of Homer Simpson, on May 17, 2013. The large root appears to have two bulging eyes and a prominent nose – giving it an uncanny resemblance to the famous cartoon character. With two offshoot roots shaped like arms, it even looks like it is pondering or confused – just what you would expect from the real Homer. (Photo by ImagineChina)

A 40-tonne humpback launching out of the water in an incredible breach in New South Wales, Australia on October 2022 in front of a sunset. The humpback whale can grow up to 56 feet long and typically covers 9,900 miles a year as it travels through the oceans of the world. Humpback whales are a species of Baleen whale, meaning they don't have teeth. Instead, they have baleen which helps them to filter feed. Their main source of food is krill or tiny bait fish. (Photo by Jodie Lowe/Media Drum Images)