Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Members of the Russian Red Army Choir perform at Water Front Theatre in Beirut September 13, 2014. (Photo by Jamal Saidi/Reuters)

Dozens of crocodiles are seen in an inactive farm in the Jordan Valley near the Israeli Petzael settlement in the West Bank on January 18, 2021. Hundreds of crocodiles are stranded in a farm after an Israeli businessmen lost his business as Israel passed a law in 2012 defining the crocodile as a protected animal, and banning raising the animals for sale as meat or merchandise. (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP Photo)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

The model Gigi Hadid receives attention in Soho, New York, USA on June 27, 2017. (Photo by Broadimage/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Miners work extremely long days under the hot sun and the hours are often longer in illegal mines in Ghana, West Africa, 2014. An Australian photographer has captured the harsh reality of illegal mining under the unforgiving sun with these Ghanaian miners. (Photo by Heidi Woodman/Barcroft Images)

This is Raymond, an orphaned koala that was found abandoned beside a road in Brisbane, Australia. He was named after the man who found him.