A fisherman transports a dead whale shark after it was caught in fishermen's net, in Yangzhi county, Fujian province August 1, 2014. According to local media, the whale shark is five-metre-long and weighs over 2 tonnes. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

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)

Rescuers attempt attempt to push stranded whales back into the ocean at Ujong Kareng beach in Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, November 13, 2017. An official said a small pod of whales was stranded at the beach and attracted hundreds of onlookers who posed for pictures with them. (Photo by AP Photo/Zulkarnaini)

One of three Sperm Whales, which were found washed ashore near Skegness over the weekend, lays on a beach on January 25, 2016 in Skegness, England. The whales are thought to have been from the same pod as another animal that was found on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk on Friday. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A white whale wears a wreath at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama, Japan, on October 3, 2012. (Photo by Associated Press)

Juno, a Beluga whale, greets a young viewer at the Mystic aquarium in Connecticut, USA on December 5, 2015. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis)

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

“Centuries ago, Inuit hunted the bowhead whale. At that time, whale hunting undoubtedly was part of a complex and very important ritual, if only because of the size of the catch. The position that the ancestors of today's Inuit occupied in the living world involved a relationship with the spirit that inhabited each animal but also their species”. (Photo by Robert Frechette/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)