They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

A debutante from a local academy looks at her mobile phone as she waits to take part in the Vienna Ball at the Kempinski Hotel, March 19, 2016, in Beijing. The ball, which is an event organized by the luxury Kempinski Hotel chain and the City of Vienna, brings together both Chinese and foreign members of the capital's elite class. Despite a slowing economy, private wealth has soared in China after decades of rapid growth. A record number of high net worth individuals and families has fuelled a market for luxury goods, services, and events catering to China's burgeoning elite class. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Jerome Holcomb of Birmingham, Ala., posses for a photo atop a longhorn steer at the Fort Worth Stockyards Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. The mask mandate to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been cancelled in Texas. Holcomb said he was tired of wearing a face mask so he came to visit Fort Worth after the Alabama governor extended the mask mandate in his home state. (Photo by L.M. Otero/AP Photo)

“Secrets of the Whales”. Skerry’s photographs celebrate the lives and culture of whales, illuminating recent research and their diverse behaviours. His latest work focuses on four key species: sperm whales, humpbacks, orca and beluga whales. Humpback whales bubble-net feeding off the coast of Alaska. They work cooperatively to feed on herring by blowing a perfect ring of bubbles underwater to form a net encircling the fish. The whales then swim up through the centre of the bubble net with their mouths open. (Photo by Brian Skerry/National Geographic Photo/Visa pour l'Image)

A fisherman throws his net to catch fish in a lagoon in Batticaloa November 24, 2015. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Multicolored nets are set under olive trees to collect the olives on November 27, 2013 in Castagniers, southeastern France. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

Fishermen pull up a live 2.5 metre crocodile in their net in the Western Amazon region, Brazil on September 20, 2017. The fishermen were fishing for a large river fish called Arapaima but sometimes crocodiles become stuck in the nets as well. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

Fishermen use traditional cone-shaped nets on Inle lake in Myanmar in February 2022. The men steer their boats with an oar that they control with their feet. They throw the net into the water and push it down so it sinks to the bottom, then drag it back to the surface with the fish trapped inside. (Photo by Alahattin Kanlioglu/Solent News)