A couple kiss as strong waves hit the coast in Saint-Benoit, on the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on February 2, 2022, ahead of the passage of tropical cyclone Batsirai. La Reunion goes on red alert at 7 pm on February 2, to prepare for the likely passage of cyclone Batsirai overnight. The cyclone already left at least 7,500 homes in nearby Mauritius without power, after it brought heavy downpours and winds of around 120 kilometres per hour, knocking down trees onto electricity lines, according to the local electricity board. (Photo by Richard Bouhet/AFP Photo)

Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

Performers in costume wait to take part in the carnival on the main Parade day of the Notting Hill Carnival in west London on August 29, 2022. London's Notting Hill carnival celebrates Caribbean culture, at a carnival considered the largest street demonstration in Europe. (Photo by Susannah Ireland/AFP Photo)

A displaced Palestinian plays on a swing at the beach, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 31, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A mandarin duck swims through reflections of spring growth and blossom on a pond in Richmond Park in London, Britain on April 28, 2025. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

(L-R) Alex Pereira of Brazil punches Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in the UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 281 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Palestinians gather at the beach in Israel's coastal city of Tel Aviv on June 29, 2023 on the second day of the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday. (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP 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)