MESMERISING FUNGI

With luminous colours and alien- like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet. These mesmorising pictures, however, capture the beautiful variety of fungi here on Earth. The incredible images were taken by Australian photographer Stephen Axford, 62, after he became familiar with the importance of fungi in everyday life, and decided to document it twelve years ago..

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BRAVE DIVER FEEDS SHARKS DEADLY FISH

A diver attempts to control rising numbers of lionfish by feeding the venomous species to Caribbean reef sharks .

BIRD FISHING

DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .

BABY WHALE AND MOTHER LAP UP TOURIST ATTENTION

A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .

SMILEY GECKO POSES FOR THE CAMERA

WITH A wide smile plastered across his face, this little gecko is ready for his close up .

AMAZING AMERICAN LANDSCAPES

This tranquil setting stretches for miles as the sun sets behind the mountain .

POLAR BEAR HUG

LYING back in the snow, these two polar bears share a cuddle as they call time out on playtime .

SWALLOW WHOLE - YOUNG BIRD ENJOYS DINNER TIME

PERCHING on top of a gate, this young barn swallow waits patiently for his mum to return with dinner .

DAREDEVIL DINING: THE 160FT HIGH RESTAURANT

Suspended FIFTY metres in the air, this is the last place that you would expect to find a fine dining experience .

RECORD BREAKING WATERMELON

AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .

NAKED SLACKLINERS TACKLE NEW CHALLENGES

BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .

A SMILEY GECKO SHEDS ITS SKIN AS HEATWAVE HITS BRITAIN

STRETCHING his little legs in the air, a smiley leaf-tailed gecko breaks free from his old, scaly skin .

PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES UNIQUE PATTERNS OF THE HUMAN EYE

A Romanian photographer has captured the unique patterns of hundreds of human eyes in a series of striking macro shots .