An aerial view of the figure of a Catrina skull made with 18,000 Cempasuchil flowers (Mexican marigold) is on display at the Church of Santa Prisca as part of Day of the Dead celebrations, in Taxco, Mexico on October 27, 2021. (Photo by Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Taliban security forces ride horses along the Qargha Lake on the outskirts of Kabul on May 11, 2023. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

Winter swimmers dressed in ballet costumes pose for a photo before diving into the icy water, during a snowfall at a park in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

An Indian man, Kalpesh Modi, performs stunts with his motorcycle during the rehearsal for the forthcoming Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, an annual Hindi festival, in Ahmedabad on June 23, 2019. The 142nd Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra festival in Ahmedabad is scheduled for July 4. (Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP Photo)

A Goodwood official prepares to brave the rain on the opening day of the Glourious Goodwood, racing festivall at Goodwood Racecourse, Chichester, England on July 30, 2019. (Photo by David Hartley/PA Wire Press Association)

Brenda, a Honduran girl who is seeking asylum in the U.S., is carried from the Rio Grande in distress, where she had been bathing across the river from a Brownsville, Texas U.S. Customs and Border Protection tent facility as immigration hearings were being held by video teleconference, in Matamoros, Mexico September 12, 2019. Most of the people living in an encampment near the Gateway International Bridge have been sent back under the “Remain in Mexico” program, officially named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). (Photo by Veronica G. Cardenas/Reuters)

Long Exposure pictures showing Mount Sinabung spewing out hot lava on August 2, 2017 in Karo, Indonesia. Sinabung located in North Sumatra Province roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years. After another period of inactivity it erupted once more in 2013, and has remained highly active since. (Photo by Albert Damanik/Barcroft Images)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)