This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

The General Sherman Sequoia tree is the largest (most massive) living thing on earth, standing over 275 feet tall with a 36 diameter and 102 circumference at its base. Its volume is over 53,000 cubic feet. It is estimated to be 2300 to 2700 years old.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Giant Forest, Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California
Image ID: 09872  

Aerial Photo of Avalon and Catalina Island.
Location: Avalon, California
Image ID: 38088  

Ocean sunfish and freediving photographer, open ocean.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03325  

Saint Peter's Basilica interior, Vatican City.
Location: Vatican City, Rome, Italy
Image ID: 35552  

Tunnel view with El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls, in spring, Yosemite National Park.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 36373  

Blue whale underwater closeup photo. This picture of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit earth, shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view. Since this blue whale was approximately 80-90' long and just a few feet from the camera, an extremely wide lens was used to photograph the entire enormous whale.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: California
Image ID: 27299  

California sea lions at La Jolla Cove, San Diego.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 38662  

Torrey Pines State Beach at Sunset, La Jolla, Mount Soledad and Blacks Beach in the distance.
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 35064  

Tiger shark and underwater cameraman Jonathan Bird filming for television documentary.
Species: Tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 31882  

The Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19, Theodore Gericault., Musee du Louvre, Paris.
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Image ID: 35639  

Milky Way over Tuolumne Meadows, Mount Dana (left), Mount Gibbs (center), Mammoth Peak and Kuna Crest (right), Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 31180  
Panorama dimensions: 6062 x 10349

Ocean sunfish injured by boat prop with cleaner fishes, open ocean, Baja California.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Image ID: 06411  

Antenna towers atop San Miguel Mountain, aerial view. San Miguel Mountain reaches an altitude of 2565 feet, and hosts commercial radio and television antennas for the San Diego region, east of downtown San Diego.
Location: San Miguel Mountain, San Diego, California
Image ID: 22141  

Beagle Channel from Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina.
Location: Tierra del Fuego National Park, Ushuaia, Argentina
Image ID: 23608  

Sailing stone on the Death Valley Racetrack playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter.
Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 25321  

A giant sea star, or starfish, on a rocky reef underwater.
Species: Giant sea star, Pisaster giganteus
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 25410  

Torrey Pines State Beach at Sunset, La Jolla, Mount Soledad and Blacks Beach in the distance.
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 35847  

Black bear walking in a grassy meadow. Black bears can live 25 years or more, and range in color from deepest black to chocolate and cinnamon brown. Adult males typically weigh up to 600 pounds. Adult females weight up to 400 pounds and reach sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age. Adults stand about 3' tall at the shoulder.
Species: American black bear, Ursus americanus
Location: Orr, Minnesota
Image ID: 18748  

Blue whale.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 02184  

The Bellagio Hotel fountains light up the reflection pool as the half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas rises above them, at night.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Image ID: 20559  

Maasai Giraffe, Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Species: Masai giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi
Location: Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Image ID: 29960  

Brown pelicans jousting, with bright red throat, yellow and white head and brown hind neck, winter plumage.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37606  

Yosemite Valley Tunnel View, Storm clouds at sunset, Yosemite National Park.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 34542  
Panorama dimensions: 7653 x 12541

Sailing stone on the Racetrack Playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter.
Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 27689  

California sea lion entangled in fishing line, La Jolla.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 34278  

Morro Rock and Morro Bay.
Location: Morro Bay, California
Image ID: 06435  

Mission Bay, is the largest man-made aquatic park in the country. It spans 4,235 acres and is split nearly evenly between land and water. It is situated between the communities of Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Bay Park and bordered on the south by the San Diego River channel. Once named "False Bay" by Juan Cabrillo in 1542, the tidelands were dredged in the 1940's creating the basins and islands of what is now Mission Bay.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 22381  

Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, aerial photo.
Location: Newport Beach, California
Image ID: 38124  

Sea otters, resting on the surface by lying on their backs, in a group known as a raft.
Species: Sea otter, Enhydra lutris
Location: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, California
Image ID: 21625  

Tiger shark and underwater photographer.
Species: Tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 31900