Hideki Tokoro, president of whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, boards Japan's new whaling mothership, the Kangei Maru, following the ship's launch ceremony at a port in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi prefecture on May 21, 2024. The nearly 9,300-tonne ship set sail on its maiden hunting voyage on May 21, heralding a new era for the controversial practice defended by the government as an integral part of national culture. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

A gull gives its familiar cry on the roof of a beach bar on the Baltic coast on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa)

A clown nose is placed on a child's face during a protest opposing violence against women after the murder of Venezuelan actress and clown Julieta Inés Hernández Martínez in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, January 8, 2024. The body of Hern·ndez, who had been missing since Dec. 23 while traveling by bicycle, was found in Presidente Figueiredo city, near Manaus in Amazonas state. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

A dhobi, or a washerman washes cloths on the banks of the River Gomti in Lucknow, India, Saturday, September 12, 2020. Dhobis are traditional laundry workers who wash clothes by hand and dry them in the sun, an occupation which has been in existence for generations. Most cities in India have a Dhobi Ghat, or washermen's area, where the city's pile of clothes is laundered. This practice is still popular in India, despite of modern technology. Around 1,000 families work in Lucknow's Dhobi Ghat. However, in light of the novel coronavirus, their wages have decreased drastically. With each family earning around US$100-200 per month. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Serena Williams awaits a return with partner Venus Williams (not pictured) of the United States against Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova of Czech Republic during the Women’s Doubles First Round match on Day Four of the 2022 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 01, 2022 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

In this picture taken on October 1, 2022, a devotee performs in the guise of Hindu goddess Kali during “Durga Puja” festival celebrations in Ajmer. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/AFP Photo)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A masquerade dances to drums along the streets during the kankurang Festival in Janjanbureh on January 27, 2024. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005, Kankurang, a combination of the Mandingo words “kango” and “Kurango”, literally translated as “voice” and “force”, ensures the transmission and teaching of the values and practices that form the basis of Mandingo cultural identity, a West African people whose historical home was the Mali empire. (Photo by Muhamadou Bittaye/AFP Photo)