“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)

Sasha Muir and Margaret Davidson sit in a car as some of the 30 barbary macaques, known as the Middle Hill Troop after living between the top of Gibraltar rock and the town, show what happens when motorists forget to lock their luggage compartments, as Scotland’s only monkey drive-through section opens at Blair Drummond safari park in Stirling, Scotland on October 8, 2015. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

A giant panda named Kai Kai looks on as he opens a gift to celebrate his upcoming 14th birthday at the River Safari wildlife park in Singapore on September 10, 2021. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

Female sea lion “Sarasa” holds a hose with her mouse to help a trainer clean her room at the Shinagawa Aqua Stadium aquarium in Tokyo on December 30, 2014. The aquarium is carrying out year-end general cleaning of their facilities. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

This photo released Saturday March 22, 2014 by Stichting Ambulance Wens or Ambulance Wish Foundation shows a giraffe at Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam giving a lick to terminally ill Mario Eijs on Wednesday March 19, 2014. The Stichting Ambulancewens “Ambulance Wish Foundation” offers transport for terminally ill patients who cannot walk to help fulfill a last wish, in Eijs' case to be taken to the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam where he worked doing odd jobs for 25 years. Eijs, who has a mental handicap, is dying of a brain tumor and has difficulty walking or speaking. (Photo by AP Photo/Stichting Ambulance Wens)

A seal infront of a passing cruise ship on the shore between Sandhaven village and Fraserburgh in Scotland in August 2023. (Photo by Mark Grant/Caters News Agency)

A month-old Tengmalm’s owl chick blends in with soft toys on August 8, 2024 at the Scottish Owl Centre in Whitburn, West Lothian. The chick is being raised by Trystan Williams, the centre’s head keeper, after losing its father and being abandoned by its mother. (Photo by Katielee Arrowsmith/South West News Service)

Bonobo apes, primates unique to Congo and humankind's closest relative, groom one another at a sanctuary just outside the capital Kinshasa, Congo on October 31, 2006. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)