FREEZING MANATEES STRUGGLE TO STAY WARM

Swimming side by side with divers, these manatees will do anything they can to stay warm. The gentle giants have travelled 300 miles from the cold winter waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the springs of Crystal River, Florida. For manatees, it is vital they retain as much body heat as possible, otherwise their digestive systems can shut down. Belgian photographer Ellen Cuylaerts visited the lumbering 1,200lb creatures in the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, where sick manatees are rescued and given care and surgery to get them back in the wild.

Other great stories
ADORABLE OWLS CUDDLE UP FOR THE CAMERA

HUDDLED together on a branch, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls soak up the sun .

CEMETERY FINES

A COUNCIL has come under fire for slapping fines on people’s GRAVESTONES for breaching petty regulations on pot plants .

DADDY DAY CARE: CARDINALFISH FATHER CARRIES EGGS IN MOUTH

It’s a role reversal in the Visayan Sea as HUNDREDS of tiny, glistening eggs are carried around inside the mouth of their cardinalfish father .

BAITBALL READY TO POP

LIKE A living balloon this baitball of sardines is ready to burst when threatened by a pointy nosed sailfish .

AERIALS OF FLOODING ON SOMERSET LEVELS

Sam Notaro built his own flood defences to protect his four-bedroom home in Moorland, Somerset Flooding is likely to get worse around Somerset as groundwater levels continue to rise .

KALEIDOSCOPIC CATHEDRALS AND CHURCHES

THESE kaleidoscopic-like photographs capture England’s churches and cathedrals in all their glory .

OUT-STANDING FIREFIGHTER BREAKS ENDURANCE WORLD RECORD

A US firefighter has battled osteoarthritis and four hip replacements to break the world paddleboarding record .

RARE BRONTE POEM FETCHES £92K AT AUCTION

A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .

TROUBLESOME PYLON MEETS EXPLOSIVE END

THIS is the EXPLOSIVE moment when a 50 metre high pylon came crashing down to earth in a rural field .

ROAD-KILL CUDDLY TOYS

With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .

ASTOUNDING ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES TAKEN IN GARDEN

AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .

EASTER ISLAND REPLICA STATUES DESTROYED IN SEA FALL

A project to create an underwater tribute to the stone Moai statues of Easter Island ended in disaster when 15 replica structures were destroyed after toppling from a boat and into the sea .