Todd Bretl specializes in underwater photography, and is able to capture striking photos of aquatic life big and small. His photos of sharks are particularly striking; though he rarely faces hostility from the animals, he tries not to spend too much time looking through his viewfinder and many shots are framed by educated guesses and impeccable timing. What follows are photographs taken over the past several years on trips to the Bahamas and Isla Guadalupe, an island off the coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. (Photo by Todd Bretl)

These are the chimp-ly marvellous images captured by a cheeky monkey after turning the tables on a photographer who left his camera unmanned. The inquisitive scamp playfully went to investigate the equipment before becoming fascinated with his own reflection in the lens. And it wasnt long before the crested black macaque hijacked the camera and started snapping away sending award-winning photographer David Slater bananas. David, from Coleford, Gloucestershire, was on a trip to a small national park north of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi when he met the incredibly friendly bunch. (Photo by David Slater/Caters News)

“This is the terrifying moment a diver came head to head with a shark as it swims inches away snatching a bite for dinner. The close encounter, captured off Bimini Island in the Bahamas, shows the hammerhead approaching diver Eli Martinez who bravely stands his ground as the giant beast approaches. Eli, free diving outside of a protective cage, carefully handled the sea creature despite its menacing razor-sharp teeth – but admitted they are extremely shy and need a lot of work to allow divers close to them. After multiple trips and hours of diving nearby they finally got used to Eli in January this year – hammerheads regularly visit these waters during the winter season”. – Caters News. Photo: Eli Martinez with hammerhead shark. (Photo by J. P. Zegarra/Caters News)

Ariana Lamcellari, 4, holds a sign at a protest against violence, following the charge of a British police officer in the London kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard, in Dublin, Ireland on March 16, 2021. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

This month’s selection of travel imagery mixes quiet moments and superlative views. The overall 2018 prize is a West Greenland trip with Wild Photography Holidays. Here: “This was taken on a safari in Kruger national park, South Africa. The scene was like something straight out of a storybook: a wild baboon, impala and elephant crossing the road together, all lined up neatly in a row”. (Photo by Will Clarke/The Guardian)

Gray whale feeding at the surface and showing it's baleen. (Photo by Christopher Swann/Biosphoto)

The rarely seen blue sharks photographed by Saeed Rashid in British waters. Elusive blue sharks have recently been spotted off the south coast of England, having moved to the UKs warmer waters to hunt. The carnivorous sharks have been lurking off the coast of the popular British holiday destination, Penzance, in Cornwall. (Photo by Saeed Rashid/Caters News)

“North and South Korea staged dueling war games Monday as threatening rhetoric from the rivals rose to the highest level since North Korea rained artillery shells on a South Korean island in 2010”. – Associated Press. Photo: North Korean soldiers with weapons attend military training in an undisclosed location in this picture released by the North’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 11, 2013. South Korea and U.S. forces are conducting large-scale military drills until the end of April, while the North is also gearing up for a massive state-wide military exercise. North Korea has accused the U.S. of using the military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has threatened to scrap the armistice with Washington that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. (Photo by KCNA/Reuters)