Drone photos show the elegance of animals in the wild from a perspective humans rarely see

Even after years of photographing a species known as lesser flamingos, Paul Mckenzie wrote on Instagram that watching them gather by the thousands takes your breath away "no matter how many times you see it."

The photographer took shots of the flamingo species at Lake Logipi, Kenya, where they flock for an algae-feeding frenzy. In fact, it's these algae that give the birds their pink feathers.

While snapping photos of the Estero el soldado wetlands in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, Guillermo Soberón was surprised to spot a bunch of white pelicans. He was used to seeing brown ones instead.

"It was such an amazing scene, I couldn't believe my luck," he told NPR.

Look at the white outline and you might see a familiar peak. The photographer, Mohammad Alqattan, said on Instagram that it resembles Mount Fuji.

What you're really seeing is hundreds of flamingos. Each white dot is a bird. They were migrating through Kuwait when Alqattan took these photos, according to the BBC.

Photographer Florian Ledoux snapped an endearing image of a polar bear couple lying next to one another in the Arctic.

"They find solace in each other's company, a timeless moment of intimacy during the courtship and mating season," the photographer wrote in the photo caption on Instagram.

In December 2023, a sperm whale got stranded on a sandbank near Perth, Australia. Sadly, the animal was distressed and underweight, a marine mammal expert told CNN at the time.

After the whale died, at least one animal got a meal, and photographer Toby Nicol got footage. "If you look along the jaw line, you can clearly see the spots" where the shark started taking bites, Nicol wrote on Instagram.

Though Factory Butte isn't far from the highway in Utah, Xiaoying Shi's image makes the formation seem remote and tranquil.

"I seek out these types of locations to experience true wilderness away from crowds, cities, and the stress of everyday life," the photographer wrote on his website.

Silke Hullmann captured white flamingos soaring above Lake Magadi in Kenya. "The area is incredibly beautiful in an apocalyptic way," the photographer said in an interview about a similar photo that won an Exposure One Award.

This mystical view of Iceland looks more like it's from some alien, unknown planet than Earth.

"By freeing my mind from conditioned and limiting thoughts of meaning that narrow my perception, I can liberate what is seen," photographer Brynjar Agustsson told The Times.

Iceland is home to over 600 geothermal springs. Miki Spitzer captured this one, describing it on Instagram as resembling a dragon's eye.

Iceland's Fagradalsfjall volcano was dormant for 800 years before erupting in March 2021. It continued to gush lava for months.

Photographer Daniel Viñé Garcia wrote on Instagram about an "epic morning" filming the volcano and visiting again just before it stopped erupting.

The lava moving through black rock resembles a fiery tongue in a gaping mouth.