Swimmers take part in the annual Christmas Day swim in Porthcawl, Wales, England on December 25, 2019. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)

Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

With the humpback calving season drawing to a close, here’s a look at some of Rita Kluge’s distinctive marine photos from the south Pacific. The Sydney-based photographer fell in love with whales after witnessing southern rights from the New South Wales coastline as they travelled to and from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. She has since been to Tonga, where humpbacks breed and calf in winter months, to photograph them in the water. (Photo by Rita Kluge/The Guardian)

A staff member of Sony Computer Entertainment tries out PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset Project Morpheus at its booth in Tokyo Game Show 2014 in Makuhari, east of Tokyo September 18, 2014. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

A policeman stands by a burning car, set alight during a communist march in the East End of London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1936

“A Hawaiian photographer braved freezing temperatures for this cold SNAP – of what appears to be a firebird bursting from an aurora. Keen snapper CJ Kale, more used to sun, sea and sand while at work than snow, captured the incredible moment while on a trip to Alaska. It was his first time seeing the spectacular sight and lucked out – capturing some of the rarest colors of aurora on his first night”. – Caters News

A member of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association displays his balancing skills atop bamboo ladders during a New Year demonstration by the fire brigade in Tokyo, Japan, January 6, 2017. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Jonathan Miller, sweet grocery buyer and bee hive designer, checks the bees on the roof at Fortnum and Mason on July 22, 2008 in London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)