Is pirate dog scary at all?

Mondex, a Chihuahua, wears a pirate costume during a Halloween dog show for the benefit of an animal welfare organization in Manila.Amazingly, Mondex actually won the prize for the most creative costume.

Pictured: The baby tigers who like nothing more than a daily dip in a swimming pool with their female trainers

It's fun in the water for these amazing animals who love to swim at their owner's outdoor pool.

Measuring over two metres in length and weighing 200lb, these one-year-old tigers are having the time of their lives.

Reaching for their human playmates with their giant paws, they dive, splash and even swim - in the same pool.

Together with their handlers, Moksha Bybee and Ragani Ferrante, tigers Balavan, Bali, and Oden display unusually close interaction between man and beast.

Animal expert Dr Bhagavan Antle has taught these amazing creatures to swim as part of an enrichment programme at his animal park in Miami.

'Tigers have a natural desire and ability to swim, exceeding that of all the other big cats,' said Dr Antle.

'It is rarely seen and we wanted to be able to present it to people so they could really get the feel of that incredible beauty and grace that a tiger has in the water.

'Tigers have modified webbing between their toes that makes their feet like flippers and they are superior swimmers.

'Because of those attributes we thought it was something people would love so we built this custom-made pool to allow people to experience this unique behaviour.'

The water-loving animals all live at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, or TIGER, in Myrtle Beach, near Miami.

Filled with 100,00 gallons of water, one side of the entire pool is made of glass, allowing guests of the institute the unique opportunity to see the handlers and the animals up close swimming together.

'There are other pictures out there of tigers underwater but people have never been able to get this close to a tiger because it is so dangerous,' says Dr Antle.

'These are the only shots I have ever seen where people are swimming with tigers like this.'

Dr Antle has a 25-year career caring for threatened species and has about 200 animals in large enclosures at the TIGER park.

He said: 'I started swimming with tigers about 25 years ago.

'We found that in the water people and tigers were on a more equal footing when the tiger was swimming around on the top.

'As they were floating around we could manipulate them more easily because they don't stand up on their back legs.

'When they are younger they love taking baths and then we slowly introduce them to the pool.'

Dr Antle and his animal-trainers give one-on-one tuition to each of the animals while they are in the water.

'These are hand-raised tigers,' he said.

'At the institute we feel that swimming with the big cats gives them a closer bond between the animal and their human companions.

'As part of our wildlife education program they are all hand-reared.' But despite the apparent danger, Doc ensures his trainers are never at risk.

'There is always a team of handlers in the water at any given time,' he explains.

'I don't think many people in the world try to get in the water with a tiger these days. It is all done from the edge when people throw meat and the tiger chases it.

'We are playing with the tigers and letting then have that interactive capacity with the handlers instead of allowing them to have meat.'

Each tiger is introduced to the pool a few months after they are born.

With a potential to grow to over 500lbs and 8ft in length, it is often considered that handlers will only swim with the tigers when they are no more than a year old.

However Dr Antle often looks at each individual case when considering how close his trainers can remain to the tigers.

'I depends on the tiger,' he says.

'I personally have had full-grown 15-year-old adult tigers that I swam with and adult ligers [cross between a lion and tiger]. But that is me and I wouldn't put my staff at the same risk.

'We will allow the tigers to swim with the handlers as they mature but we have to monitor each one on its own merits.'

The TIGER centre has several programmes allowing people to interact closely with the animals.

Many of the animals are also trained actors and have appeared in advertisements and films including Forrest Gump and Ace Ventura.

Pictured: The spectacular icebergs captured on camera before they disappear forever

From deep blue to crystal green these giant icebergs are some nature's most awe-inspiring spectacles.

Floating just metres from the shore, they are the natural backdrop off the Canadian coast in Newfoundland.

They can measure as high as a twenty-storey building and have the potential to weigh in excess of 10 million tonnes.

Amazingly, some of the magnificent blocks are over 15,000 years old.

But as the polar ice caps continue to melt, there are fears that these extraordinary sights may vanish forever.

Travel photographer Rolf Hicker has spent the last 15 years capturing the natural phenomenon.

'Icebergs have always fascinated me, they are all different,' explained the 42-year-old from Germany.

'I love Newfoundland and Labrador because it is the best places to watch icebergs.

'Each year there are hundreds of icebergs in the vicinity and their shape, size and movement so close to the shore make them the perfect subject to photograph.'

Rolf first visited Newfoundland in 1995 returning almost every year during the spring and early summer months to document iceberg movements.

The majority of the icebergs in the North Atlantic come from about 100 iceberg producing glaciers along the Greenland coast while a few originate in the eastern Canadian Arctic Islands.

The glaciers of western Greenland, where 90 per cent of Newfoundland's icebergs originate, are amongst the fastest moving in the world, with speeds up to 7 km per year.

Approximately 40,000 medium to large sized icebergs calve (break off) annually in Greenland, and are carried south in the cold Labrador current.

With their interior temperature ranging between minus 15 degrees to minus 20 degrees celsius the icebergs can range from very large (greater than 10 million tonnes and hundreds of metres long) to large, medium and small bergs and on to 'bergy bits' then 'growlers', which are grand piano-sized pieces.

The icebergs are mostly brilliant white because the ice is full of tiny air bubbles that reflect white light giving the iceberg an overall white appearance.

Ice that is bubble-free has a blue tint which is due to the same light phenomenon that tints the sky.

And their different shapes are categorised in order to understand their melting behaviour and mass.

From huge flat-topped tabular and blocky bergs (which can weigh in excess of several million tonnes) to smaller domed, drylocked (U-shaped) and pinnacled (triangular tipped) bergs, they come in all different shapes and sizes.

The largest Northern Hemisphere iceberg on record was encountered near Baffin Island in 1882 which was 13 km long, 6 km wide and had a freeboard (height above water) of about 20 m.

The mass of that iceberg was in excess of 9 billion tonnes - enough water for everyone in the world to drink a litre a day for over 4 years.

For Rolf however it is the bergs beauty that first attracted him to the area.

Aside from his spectacular iceberg images Rolf's collection of travel photographs include an array of animals, especially Orcas, wildlife, travel photography and the northern lights.

His work has brought him several awards, including the Best Nature Film at the international Film festival in Dresden and the Gold Medal for Best scenic calendar by CMA.

Whether it is wildlife or real life, Rolf employs a stringent routine of preparation before each shoot.

'There is a lot of planning that goes into each photograph - too much,' he says.

'We have to plan every location, not necessarily every photo.

'We pick the main shots and give them priority for light, the rest gets 'standard light', you only really can get two outstanding shots a day, or better to scenes a day, different angles, different light.'

Rolf dedication to finding the perfect shot has spanned over 26 years.

'I became a professional photographer at just sixteen,' says Rolf.

'I was doing live travel shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for almost 20 years.

'This has brought me a lot of experience - the more we specialise the more experience we get.

'We get to know locations better, we learn more about the behaviour of animals - all that are factors for successful specialised photography.'

Earlier this month satellite pictures, produced by Nasa, displayed how the North Pole had become an island for the first time in human history.

The startling images showed that melting ice has opened up the fabled North-West and North-East Passages - making it possible to sail around the Arctic ice cap.

The opening of the passages has been eagerly awaited by shipping companies which hope they will be able to cut thousands of miles off their routes.

But for climate change scientists it is yet another sign of the damage global warming is inflicting on the planet.

Indeed even Rolf himself has noticed some distinct changes in the movements of icebergs in Newfoundland.

'I remember for years in Newfoundland where we hardly saw any icebergs,' recalls Rolf.

'But in 2007, there was a record number of icebergs with four or five times more icebergs then they ever seen in one season.

'For me this is a clear sign that something very bad is happening in the arctic.

'Everywhere across the world there are longer periods of dryness, followed by super extreme rain. temperatures in summer are higher, but winters are colder.

'It almost seems like there are no four seasons anymore. Everything is way more extreme then usual.'

Pictured: The amazing portraits of TV favourites made entirely from food

Artwork celebrating some of the nation's favourite television programmes was unveiled today - with the exhibits made entirely from food.

Artist Prudence Emma Staite has swapped oils and pastels for sausages and tomatoes to create the TV Dinners display, which includes a depiction of presenter Anne Robinson made entirely from cakes and biscuits, and a life-sized Doctor Who Dalek made from spaghetti bolognese.

The Have I Got News for You team, including London Mayor and former guest presenter Boris Johnson, have been immortalised with a TV dinner of curry, rice and naan bread.

The edible exhibition also sees the famous EastEnders title scene recreated with sausages and mashed potato, and the Top Gear presenters represented using beans on toast.

The works were commissioned by Virgin Media to celebrate the launch of BBC iPlayer on its on-demand television service.

In a survey conducted earlier this month, Virgin Media found that over a quarter of people in the UK eat their evening meal in front of the television every night.

The research also found that sandwiches were the most common food eaten while on the sofa, followed by pizza and spaghetti bolognese.

The TV Dinners exhibition will be going on display next month at Virgin Media headquarters in Hook, Hampshire.

Pictured: The amazing moment a horse did a perfect somersault

If it had been an equestrian gymnastics event, she would have scored a perfect 10.

After all, it's not every day you see a horse perform a gravity-defying flip of such dizzying proportions.

The four-year-old mare, called Schattenlady, who had lost her rider moments into a race, went into these spectacular acrobatics as she tried to dislodge her loosened saddle as well.

With crowds at the course in Hanover, Germany, watching in horror, she somersaulted right over before falling flat on her back.

But the show was not quite over for Schattenlady, or Shadowlady, as she is known in English.

Happily was only shaken and bruised and walked away soon after.

And amazingly, both horse and jockey emerged from the acrobatics unscathed.