We humans are drawn to the shore, with some 40% of the world's population living within 100 kilometers of a coast. Coastal areas have made recent news with the arrival of several storms, concerns about rising sea levels and other environmental and conservation efforts. Collected here are a handful of photographs from around the world of people and animals at the shoreline, playing, working, struggling or relaxing on the border between land and sea.
1. A beach-goer enjoys a day at the beach as the sun goes down over the Spanish coastal city of Marbella on September 1, 2009. The temperatures remain over 30 degrees Celsius at the southern Spanish coast. (SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP/Getty Images)
2. Huge waves break over the lighthouse on Newhaven Harbour as the country braces itself for more gales and rain, Newhaven, East Sussex, England, on November 14, 2009. (GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images) #
3. Spain's Queen Sofia releases a marine turtle into the sea on Cofete beach, south of the Spanish Canary island of Fuerteventura September 18, 2009. A project to help conserve the turtles aims to reintroduce the species which disappeared from the Canary Islands 300 years ago. (REUTERS/Borja Suarez) #
4. Australian dare-devils Ben Morrison-Jack (right) and James Weight (left) are seen on their way to claiming a world first by kite-surfing across the notoriously stormy waters of Bass Strait from Tasmania to mainland Australia on September 9, 2009. The close friends braved giant swells on their 12-hour journey across the 259 km (161 mi) stretch of treacherous water before swimming the final kilometer to Apollo Bay. (NALU PRODUCTIONS/AFP/Getty Images) #
5. Indonesians play in the water at Ancol beach during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Crack Palinggi) #
6. A stray dog leaps as it plays with waves on a beach in Sevastopol, on the southern coast of Ukraine where the main base of the Russian Black Sea fleet is based, on August 25, 2009. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images) #
7. Some of the 10,000 people taking part in the filming of "The Big Ask Again" video clip at a beach in Oostende August 29, 2009. The clip of Belgian film maker Nic Balthazar is aimed at raising awareness towards the climate change issue ahead of the upcoming Copenhagen Summit. (REUTERS/Sebastien Pirlet) #
8. Women wearing their wedding dresses are pictured on a North Sea beach in Scheveningen, Netherlands, on September 09 2009. The photographer Melanie Rijkers initiated the act after she found out about the American phenomenon "Trash the dress" on the internet. The idea behind it is to have fun once more with your used wedding dress. (ROBERT VOS/AFP/Getty Images) #
9. Skateboarder Ryan Decenzo, of Delta, BC, jumps from one shipping container to another aboard a barge at sunset on English Bay in Vancouver, British Columbia September 11, 2009. The display put on by Red Bull entertained people out for an evening walk along shore. (REUTERS/Andy Clark) #
10. The normally frigid waters of New England Beaches are surprisingly warm as beach-goers Joanne Smith and son Christopher, 11, of Littleton, Massachusetts splash in the waves of Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts on Thursday, September 3, 2009. (Globe Staff/Wendy Maeda) #
11. A girl shakes wet sand from her hands as the sun sets on Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Thursday, July 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) #
12. A kite flies in the sky at Bondi's Festival Of The Winds at Bondi Beach on September 13, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. Celebrating 30 years this year, it is the largest kite-flying event in Australia, attracting locals and internationals alike and is run in conjunction with the Australian Kite Flyers Society. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) #
13. A dead penguin lies on the beach before Turkish bulk carrier MV SELI 1, carrying a 30,000 ton coal cargo, that ran aground near Cape Town, September 8, 2009. The carrier, clearly visible from city vantage points, was reportedly carrying 600 tons of heavy fuel oil and 60 tons of diesel, although no fuel tanks had ruptured, city officials said. (REUTERS/Mike Hutchings) #
14. A Spanish Air Force Harrier jet performs off the Playa de la Victoria beach during an air show in Cadiz, southern Spain, Sunday, Sep. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Miguel Gomez) #
15. A surfer braves the wind and rough seas at the UK Pro Surfing Tour on November 14, 2009 in Newquay, England. The event, the final in the UK pro surfing event calendar, is normally held at the top British surfing location of Fistral Beach, but high winds and adverse weather have forced it to be moved to a more sheltered bay in Newquay. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) #
16. An Israeli man practices kite surfing during sunset in the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel on September 5, 2009. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images) #
17. Ani Triastuti prays while sitting on a desk, in her house which has been flooded by sea water, at Mondoliko village in Demak, Indonesia's Central Java province November 14, 2009. Mondoliko village, home to some 188 families and located about one kilometer from the beach, has for the past three years been flooded by sea water because of rising sea levels, according to Sunarti Triastuti, a villager. Triastuti also said the floods destroyed the village's padi fields and farmers have had to head to the city to find other means of livelihood. (REUTERS/Beawiharta) #
18. A family shields from a sand storm on a beach at Sandbanks near Poole, southern England where hurricane force gales buffeted the coast Saturday Nov. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Ison/PA Wire) #
19. A six-year old Pomeranian named Bobby Gorgeous hangs on to the surfboard as he competes in his 20lbs-and-under heat at the 4th annual Helen Woodward Animal Center "Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon" at dog beach in Del Mar, California September 13, 2009. The event helps raise awareness and money for orphaned pets while promoting responsible pet ownership. (REUTERS/Mike Blake) #
20. A seagull flies along the Alabama Gulf Coast at sunrise as Tropical Storm Ida makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #
21. Soldiers exercise during a training session at a beach on the Xisha islands, Hainan province August 26, 2009. (REUTERS/China Daily) #
22. A gunner of The Kings Troop Royal Artillery cools off in the surf after a gallop along the beach during their annual holiday break in the seaside resort of Blackpool on September 16, 2009 in Blackpool, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) #
23. The waves from Tropical Storm Ida were still taking their toll on a condominium in Destin, Fla on Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009. Jetty East general manager Jerry Stalnaker talks with engineer inspector Steve Kulp about the damage the seawall took. Stalnaker estimates in the least, the condos took around $40,000 in damage and that is if the main footer on the building did not get undermined by the water. (AP Photo/Mari Darr-Welch) #
24. A man wearing a mask depicting Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sits on a bed at a beach in Melbourne as part of a global climate wake up call organized by Oxfam Australia September 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Mick Tsikas) #
25. A fisherman pulls in his net as the warm sun rises over the Chesapeake Bay near Mathews, Virginia on Monday, Sept. 14,2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) #
26. Colombians run into the surf at the beach in Cartagena, Colombia, on November 14, 2009. (RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images) #
27. An egret flies over the shoreline of Sakonnet Harbor in Little Compton, Rhode Island. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe staff) #
28. Two beachcombers walk past the perspex artwork "A Symbolic Inscription of the Imaginary" by Australian artist Nicholas Elias during the official launch of the 13th Sculpture By The Sea exhibition on Sydney's Tamarama Beach on October 29, 2009. (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images) #
29. Iranian container ship Zoorik, which was broken into two parts by strong waves after running aground off the coast near Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China, seen on November 4, 2009. Thirty-seven people on board, including a 2-year-old boy, were rescued, Xinhua News Agency reported. (REUTERS/China Daily) #
30. The Copacabana beach, lit only by car headlights and emergency lighting, is seen during a blackout in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. A massive power failure threw Brazil's largest cities into darkness Tuesday night along with other parts of the country affecting millions of people. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) #
31. A Palestinian fisherman pulls in his nets at sunset at the beach in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill) #
32. Jason Rodgers holds his girlfriend Lindsey Brown as they watch as rain and wind from Tropical Storm Ida approach the coast at Perdido Pass in Gulf Shores, Alabama on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) #
33. Surfer Andrew Brooks is surprised to have company on a wave at Cape Adieu, 160 kms (99 miles) west of Ceduna, Australia, as dolphins joined in on the wave he was about to catch on September 15, 2009. Brooks, a photographer, had set up his camera on a tripod and instructed his cousin to photograph him as he surfed when the pod of 40-50, believed to be bottlenose dolphins, joined in on the fun. (AP Photo/Andrew Brooks) #
34. Heavy seas pound the Minots Ledge Lighthouse off the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe staff) #
35. Observant Jews read the Tashlich prayer at the beach in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod in celebration of the Jewish New Year festival of Rosh Hashana on September 20, 2009. To perform the prayer, Jews traditionally go to a flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away" their sins. (DAVID BUIMOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images) #
36. A man walks on the beach in Cancun as Hurricane Ida passes miles offshore November 8, 2009. In recent years hurricanes have swallowed up much of Cancun's famed beaches. Picture taken November 8, 2009 (REUTERS/Victor Ruiz) #
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