Alex Massie Alex Massie

Cool Pictures of the Year


Nazroo, a mahout, poses for a portrait while taking his elephant, Rajan, out for a swim in front of Radha Nagar Beach in Havelock, Andaman Islands. Rajan is one of the few elephants in Havelock that can swim, so when he is not dragging timber in the forest he is used as a tourist attraction. The relationship between the mahout and his elephant usually lasts for their entire lives, creating an extremely strong tie between the animal and the human being. Photo and caption by Cesare Naldi.

The Boston Globe offers a selection of photos from this year’s National Geographic photography competition here. National Geographic’s galleries are here and you can download many of the entries to use as your desktop wallpaper here.

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