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.
GLIDING through the water, these delightful frogs show off their vibrant colours as they practice their FROG crawl .
TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .
NEVER mind being careful not to choke on your food, this mother bird has a bigger challenge on her hands, as her ravenous offspring impatiently launches its head down into her stomach .
MOUTH OPEN wide, this little stoat appears to be in mid-song as he belts out a tune for his onlookers .
A TEN-THOUSAND square foot wide Avatar-style grove is such a beauty it will leave you feeling VINE .
BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .
An adorable little squirrel wakes from a nap and pops out his tongue for the camera .
A hungry hippo is seconds away from catching a bird in its gigantic jaws .
A DETERMINED great blue heron holds on tightly to its prey as the furry gopher attempts to wriggle free .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .