A Cuban fisherman prepares to fish in a makeshift raft in Havana Bay on July 16, 2024. When the weather permits, artisanal fishermen take to the water in improvised polystyrene rafts to make up for the lack of means and fuel. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)

Participants jump into the water during the 114th edition of the Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) swimming race in Barcelona's Port Vell on December 25, 2023. The traditional 200-meter Christmas swimming race gathered around 300 participants on Barcelona's Port Vell (old harbour). (Photo by Josep Lago/AFP Photo)

Lukas Evins wades through flood waters to help his brother move belongings to the second floor of his house on April 6, 2025 in Frankfort, Kentucky. Frankfort is expected to experience record flooding as the Kentucky River continues to rise. (Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images)

Staff from Local Ocean Conservation and fishermen lifting a mature Loggerhead sea turtle into a car, after the turtle was hooked out on the open water and needs to be taken to observation in the rehabilitation centre before being released back into the ocean, in Watamu, Kenya on May 22, 2025. (Photo by Fredrik Lerneryd/AFP Photo)

The carcass of a yacare caiman lies in the dried-up river bed of the Pilcomayo river in Boqueron, Paraguay, August 14, 2016. In Paraguay, alongside the Pilcomayo River, black vultures flew over a shrinking pond where a group of crocodilian reptiles known as yacare caimans sought refuge. Water from the river, which divides Paraguay and Argentina in the area of the Gran Chaco, was scarce. This is not an uncommon sight in the region of General Diaz, about 700 kilometres (435 miles) northwest of the country's capital Asuncion, where the Pilcomayo's waters form lakes and streams that give life to capybaras, birds and caimans. (Photo by Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

A woman jumps into water from the roof of Murru prison, an abandoned Soviet prison, in Rummu quarry, Estonia, during hot weather July 4, 2015. During the Soviet time, Rummu quarry was used as a mining site for Vasalemma marble and most of the workforce came from among the detainees of Murru prison. When the prison closed after 1991, pumps that once kept the quarry and the prison dry were shut down, causing water to fill the quarry. It has become an unofficial and unguarded swimming and diving spot, attracting locals and tourists. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

“Tardigrades (commonly known as waterbears or moss piglets) are small, water-dwelling, segmented animals with eight legs. Tardigrades were first discovered in 1773 by Johann August Ephraim Goeze, who called them kleiner Wasserbär, meaning “little water bear” in German. The name Tardigrada means “slow walker” and was given by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777. The name water bear comes from the way they walk, reminiscent of a bear's gait. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in), the smallest below 0.1 mm. Freshly hatched tardigrades may be smaller than 0.05 mm”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Tardigrades. (Photo by SPL/East News)

A new book published by the UK Natural History Museum showcases some of the most memorable underwater photographs taken over the last few decades in its annual wildlife photographer of the year competition. Here: Giant gathering by Tony Wu. “The first indication that something extraordinary was going on were the blows, huge numbers of them – the exhalations of huge numbers of whales. Entering the water, the photographer witnessed an extraordinary scene”. (Photo by Tony Wu/Unforgettable Underwater Photography/NHM)