Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

A woman smokes marijuana during a Global March for Marijuana in Medellin, Colombia, May 5, 2018. The annual Global Marijuana March is taking place in over 100 cities across the world in an effort to raise awareness of the benefits of medical cannabis and to call for the legalization of marijuana. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

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)

Olga Conover of Palm Bay, Fla., walks down the bridge at sunset carrying her merged American-Ukraine flag near the end of a march marking the one-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine, late Thursday afternoon, February 23, 2022, in Melbourne, Fla. A small but passionate group of Ukraine supporters took the Melbourne Causeway to show their support, organized by the Ukrainian Space Coast group. (Photo by Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Photo)

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka poses with the 2023 Australian Open winner's trophy in Royal Botanic Garden in Melbourne on January 29, 2023, following her victory over Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the women's singles final of the tennis tournament. (Photo by Carl Recine/Reuters)

This undated handout image courtesy of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows “Pat”, a Pacific pocket mouse fondly named after actor Sir Patrick Stewart. A mouse named after “Star Trek” actor Patrick Stewart is officially the world's oldest in captivity, a US zoo has announced Pat the Pacific Pocket Mouse – the smallest species of mouse in North America – bagged the title when he hit nine years and 209 days old on February 8, 2023. (Photo by Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AFP Photo)

An owl peeps out from behind a rusty piece of farming equipment in Teddesley Park, Staffordshire, UK in the last decade of July 2025. (Photo by David Akers/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Mechanics work in the Buggy belonging to Argentina's Manuel Sisterna and Adrian Echegaray during technical verification ahead of the Dakar Rally 2015 in Buenos Aires January 1, 2015. (Photo by Enrique Marcarian/Reuters)