A Thai mahout and his elephant, both dressed as Santa Claus pass in font of a large photograph of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej following a Christmas event at a school in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 December 2015. The annual event is held to celebrate the Christmas season in the overwhelmingly Buddhist kingdom. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

A balloon depicting the face of alien movie character E.T. is seen in the sky at the 15th Solar Balloon Festival in Envigado, Colombia December 31, 2015. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

Photographer Andy Hall joins the thousands of fans from west Africa who have gathered for Baaba Maal's annual Blues du Fleuve festival in Senegal. Here: Dancers wait to perform on stage. (Photo by Andy Hall/The Observer)

Indian Rabha tribal women in traditional attire take part in a tug of war competition with men during Baikho festival at Gamerimura village along the Assam Meghalaya border, west of Gauhati, India, Saturday, June 4, 2022. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

“Secrets of the Whales”. Skerry’s photographs celebrate the lives and culture of whales, illuminating recent research and their diverse behaviours. His latest work focuses on four key species: sperm whales, humpbacks, orca and beluga whales. Humpback whales bubble-net feeding off the coast of Alaska. They work cooperatively to feed on herring by blowing a perfect ring of bubbles underwater to form a net encircling the fish. The whales then swim up through the centre of the bubble net with their mouths open. (Photo by Brian Skerry/National Geographic Photo/Visa pour l'Image)

Nepalese women performs ritual as they take a holy bath in the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. Rishi Panchami is observed on the last day of Teej when women worship Sapta Rishi (Seven Saints) to ask for forgiveness for sins committed during their menstrual periods throughout the year. The Hindu religion considers menstruation as a representation of impurity and women are prohibited from taking part in religious practices during their monthly menstruations. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A visitor takes photos while attending the Dandenong Festival of Lights in the suburb of Dandenong in Melbourne, Australia, September 23, 2015. The month-long festival, set up by the Chinese Cultural Works Light Spectacular, celebrates Chinese culture through a display of hundreds of beautiful and unique silk light displays, according to the event's website. (Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)

A devotee of the Chinese Samkong Shrine walks with flowers pierced through his cheeks during a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand, October 16, 2015. The festival, featuring face-piercing, spirit mediums and strict vegetarianism celebrates the local Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)