Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Photo taken on October 11, 2020 shows a golden monkey at Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center in Shennongjia National Park of central China's Hubei Province. With the efforts of local authority and improvement of the environment in the past many years, the number of golden monkeys in Shennongjia area reached nearly 1,500 nowadays. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“The king of herrings or giant oarfish, an oarfish of the family Regalecidae, is the world's longest bony fish. Its total length has been documented to reach 17 m (56 ft), and it can weigh up to 300 kg (661 lb)”. – Wikipedia

Czechia's Karolina Muchova plays a shot between her legs to Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their quarterfinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, January 3, 2025. (Photo by Rick Rycroft/AP Photo)

A man dressed as a traditional character in the “Baile de Negras” dance poses for a picture on the feast day of the Virgin of the Candelaria (Candlemas) in the town of Diriomo, some 45 km from Managua, Nicaragua on February 2, 2017 Candlemas falls forty days after Christmas and is celebrated by Catholics as the presentation of Christ at the Temple. (Photo by Inti Ocon/AFP Photo)

From the rocks of Arnhem Land to the backyards of the Sydney suburbs, from stretching by the pool to waiting for evening prayer, snapshots for the 2015 Australian Life prize demonstrated a nation in colour and motion. Here: Children Cooling Off at Dhiari Homeland. Local children get wet and cool in Arnhem Land. (Photo by Matthew Abbott/Australian Life Prize 2015)

An alert-looking Maine Coon during the Grand Prix Royal Canin cat exhibition in Moscow, Russia on December 4, 2016. The breed’s origin is unknown, but one legend claims it is descended from cats brought to the US by an English seafarer called Captain Coon. (Photo by Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS)

The Spanking. (Photo by Vika Valter/Getty Images)