It's odd, those galleries have been this way forever, but that "Participants (xxxx)" number is apparently the start of the last block of files loaded and not the last photo; so the number of photos up always exceeds that.
Here is what's happening. As photos are received, they are automatically given a unique identifier, starting with 1. All submissions are reviewed by the coordinating team before they hit the gallery, and many images are rejected for various reasons, mostly that people try to get around the one-photo-per-person-per-year rule. If one person submits five photos, only the first one makes it into the gallery. "Participants(xxxx)" is the number of accepted entries; the unique identifier for the last photo in the gallery will be much larger.
Hmm -- thanks for the explanation. Not that I've lost any sleep over this phenomenon, mind you.
In the past I have often walked through a block of a hundred photos at a time with the 'next' button and haven't noticed gaps -- but mayhaps they were there and I didn't notice; it is a lot of photos.
Anyway, the behind the scenes work is greatly appreciated.
