Northeast of Dakar, Senegal, algae turns Lake Retba's salty waters red. The area is under consideration for listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Photograph by Paul-Vlad Epure, National Geographic Your Shot
In Florence, Italy, a chalk artist makes the sidewalk his canvas. He creates his portraits near the Uffizi Museum, famous for housing works by Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Botticelli.
Photograph by Giacomo Marchegiani, National Geographic Your Shot
While freediving with friends off the coast of Mexico's Baja California, Your Shot photographer Jorge Hauser noticed an "unexpected visitor" swimming 45 feet below. "When I dove down I never thought I'd catch up," Hauser says, but he managed to capture this shot: the whale's massive fins looming out of the dark as it swims away.
Photograph by <a href="http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/11880881/">Jorge Hauser</a>, National Geographic Your Shot
At an old tea house in Chengdu, China, Your Shot photographer Handi Laksono spent half a day observing the locals. Most of those who come in are above 60 years old, he says, and will pass the time smoking and playing cards with friends until lunch.
Photograph by Handi Laksono, National Geographic Your Shot
After laying a clutch of eggs, this mother olive ridley sea turtle pauses for a moment on the beach before continuing on to the ocean. To protect the half-million vulnerable eggs laid on this beach, volunteers were asked to stand guard. "I'll surely be one of them," writes Your Shot photographer Siddharth Khadanga.
Photograph by Siddharth Khadanga, National Geographic Your Shot
Your Shot photographer Saulius Damulevicius took this self-portrait in 2016, while on the first Lithuanian ski expedition over the frozen Baltic sea. "Although I broke one of my ski bindings and even got into the freezing water while crossing the fresh icebreaker lane," he says, "we finished our expedition successfully."
Photograph by Saulius Damulevicius, National Geographic Your Shot
Every year during late March, Tokyo's beloved cherry blossoms burst from the boughs. But the breathtaking display is short-lived. Here, fallen petals create pink swirls on the river below.
Photograph by Danilo Dungo, National Geographic Your Shot
This young girl isn't exploring a faraway planet—she's walking along an abandoned quarry in Bogdanovich, Sverdlovsk, Russia. Her father, Your Shot photographer Dmitry Elizarov made her space suit by hand.
Photograph by Dmitry Elizarov, National Geographic Your Shot
A red-eyed tree frog peeks over a leaf in San Jose, Costa Rica. The frogs spend most of their lives in trees, eating moths, crickets, and other insects.
Photograph by Marco Anfossi, National Geographic Your Shot