British Waters Wide Angle category runner-up. Grass snake swimming along a garden pond by Jack Perks (UK)in Nottinghamshire, UK. “I’m always on the lookout for unusual freshwater subjects and grass snakes are a species I’ve been after for years. I was told about a pond where the odd grass snake hangs around the lilly pads for frogs. I put my drysuit on and got into the water and could see one slithering along the surface. Slowly making my way towards it with my head only just poking above I got the spilt shot”. (Photo by Jack Perks/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019)

A snowboarder performs during the Red Bull Jump and Freeze competition at ski resort Shimbulak outside Almaty March 22, 2015. Participants wearing festive costumes perform tricks before getting into a pond with icy water. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

Russian Orthodox believers take a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia on January 18, 2024. People believe that dipping into blessed waters during the holiday of Epiphany strengthens their spirit and body. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/EFE)

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)

A stone giant exhausted after his long travels decided to rest a while and drink from a pond far below. He lay down and started drinking from the crystal clear pond. So delicious was the water that he was unable to quench his thirst no matter how much he tried. Weeks have passed, months, years. The body of the stone giant became one with the hills and even his tongue has turned to water. This might seem like a fairy tale, yet you’ll be able to see this stone giant if you ever come to Wattens, Austria. He’s still there, guarding the entrance to Swarovski Kristallwelted, otherwise known as the Crystal Worlds. This is a one-of-a-kind theme park that was created by the people who first created Swarovski crystals.

David and Lana Fechter have recently adopted two adorable Siberian bear cubs that were rejected by their mother at a Chicago zoo. The two nine-week-old male cubs, Lewis and Clark, are being kept in an inside closure and are being bottle fed. When the twins get bigger and more independent, they’ll be be given a large natural enclosure with ponds and ridges to live in at Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary.

The President of the sushi restaurant chain Sushi Zanmai, Kiyoshi Kimura, cuts a blue fin tuna outside his main restaurant at the outer Tsukiji market in Tokyo January 5, 2015. The 180 kg blue fin tuna traded at a price of 4.5 million yen (37,500 USD) and was the most expensive fish at this year's New Year auction at the Tsukiji market, local media reported. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Ukrainians swim in an ice hole as part of the celebration of the Epiphany in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, January 19, 2015. Orthodox believers celebrate the holiday of the Epiphany on Jan. 19, and traditionally bathe in holes cut through thick ice on rivers and ponds to cleanse themselves with water deemed holy for the day. (Photo by Sergei Chuzavkov/AP Photo)