BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: SWIMMING WITH SHARKS

Armed with a snorkel, flippers and her skimpy bikini, an intrepid female free diver swims alongside an array of reef sharks. These amazing photographs were captured by American ocean photojournalist Tim Rock, on a trip north of Papua New Guinea to Vertigo Reef in Yap, Micronesia. ‘I had the pleasure and privilege to team up with diver Ai Futaki for two weeks of photography during an event called Manta Fest in Yap, Micronesia,’ says Tim, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. ‘She is a world champion free diver who wanted to try free diving with sharks and asked if I would document her swimming in Yap's waters.

Other great stories
CHEATING COPPERS CAUGHT RED HANDED AT AIRPORT BY SCORNED MISSUS

A scorned woman sparked a punch-up in an airport after she caught her copper boyfriend returning from a romantic holiday with a female police officer .

PORCUPINES COME CLOSE TO VICTORY AGAINST PRIDE OF HUNGRY LIONS

Jostling their quills into the noses of some unlucky cubs, this is the moment two feisty porcupines ALMOST defeat a pride of seven lions .

YOGA BEAR

A bear cub unwinds in a forest in eastern Finland by practicing yoga with a series of stretches .

STUNNING AURORA BOREALIS REFLECTED IN ICELAND

CONTRACT CANCELLED, DO NOT SYNDICATE .

GATEWAY TO THE UNDERWORLD

SPURTING water 20ft into the air, this is one well you wouldn't want to dip your bucket into .

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 .

FIRST FEMALE JACKASS

FROM KISSING an alligator on the nose to walking over broken glass, this fearless daredevil is a real life female JACKASS .

THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT

Those with a fear of flying and a ticket to Lukla Airport will want to look away now .

AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY

STRIKING photos capture nature at its most raw and powerful during Earth’s most electrifying event .

MUM SPENDS THOUSANDS ON FAKE BABIES INSTEAD OF HER REAL KIDS

A mum-of-two has splashed out £20k on her seven reborn dolls, but refuses to treat her real kids .

BEAR AND FOX IN SHOWDOWN

This is the moment a nimble red fox and a lumbering Alaskan brown bear were locked in a tense stand-off .

FROG FRIENDS

PERCHED on a branch, these two frogs hold hands as they look into the camera .