PLAYFUL MANATEE

A manatee makes the most of his underwater guests by rolling onto his back for a belly rub. The manatee appears apprehensive at first, but he soon cosies up to the divers. The photographs were taken by marine biologist Andrew Pearson in Crystal River, Florida at the Crystal River Wildlife Refuge. The 32 year old photographer, of Southampton, says: ‘We spent several days snorkelling with wild manatees.

Other great stories
ENTER THE LOST WORLD

Some will get up close and personal with Mother Nature’s deadliest animals to get the perfect shot, posing the question, what lengths will a photographer go to for that all important picture? But in this case, the question should be what depths .

AN OTTER-ONE BITES THE DUST

Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .

RED SMOKE AT NIGHT, VOLCANO SPOTTERS DELIGHT

With the vivid red smoke billowing into the sky amid the misty sand dunes, these are the blissful views provided at the break of dawn at a volcano .

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 .

DRIVER TRAPPED UNDER 4x4 FOR AN HOUR IN HORRIFIC MOTORWAY CRASH

This was the chaotic scene when the driver of a 4x4 vehicle became periously trapped under his vehicle for an HOUR when it overturned after a crash on a busy motorway .

THE POP-UP HOTEL RETURNS TO GLASTONBURY

GLAMPING is taken to a whole new level in the form of the luxurious Pop-Up Hotel .

WINKING SQUIRREL

BASKING in smug satisfaction, a confident squirrel gives a wink to the camera .

SNEAKY OTTER

A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .

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 .

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 .

DERELICT MANSION

With an abandoned tricycle sitting in an empty corridor, this derelict but once grand mansion could be the setting for The Shining .

OWLS ARE MASTERS OF DISGUISE IN INDIAN FOREST

HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .