This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

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  

Juvenile blue shark in the open ocean.
Species: Blue shark, Prionace glauca
Location: Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 04871  

Bluestripe clownfish, Amphiprion chrysopterus, Fiji.
Species: Bluestripe clownfish, Amphiprion chrysopterus
Location: Fiji
Image ID: 34775  

Wandering albatross in flight, over the open sea. The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, with the wingspan between, up to 12' from wingtip to wingtip. It can soar on the open ocean for hours at a time, riding the updrafts from individual swells, with a glide ratio of 22 units of distance for every unit of drop. The wandering albatross can live up to 23 years. They hunt at night on the open ocean for cephalopods, small fish, and crustaceans. The survival of the species is at risk due to mortality from long-line fishing gear.
Species: Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans
Location: Southern Ocean
Image ID: 24089  

Giant Manta Ray at San Benedicto Island, Revillagigedos, Mexico.
Species: Giant manta ray, Manta birostris
Location: San Benedicto Island (Islas Revillagigedos), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 33282  

Lower Manhattan skyline viewed from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Location: Brooklyn Bridge, New York City
Image ID: 11093  

Silky Shark at San Benedicto Islands, Revillagigedos, Mexico.
Species: Silky shark, Carcharhinus falciformis
Location: Socorro Island (Islas Revillagigedos), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 33329  

New Blue Spring and its travertine terraces, part of the Mammoth Hot Springs complex.
Location: Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13631  

Silky Shark at San Benedicto Islands, Revillagigedos, Mexico.
Species: Silky shark, Carcharhinus falciformis
Location: Socorro Island (Islas Revillagigedos), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 33330  

Lyretail fairy basslet, female.
Species: Jewel fairy basslet, Pseudanthias squamipinnis
Image ID: 12871  

Lemon shark with live sharksuckers.
Species: Lemon shark, Echeneis naucrates, Negaprion brevirostris
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 10789  

Steel pompano.
Species: Steel pompano, Trachinotus stilbe
Location: Isla Enderby, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 01831  

Tiger shark with closed nictating membrane.
Species: Tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 31910  

Giant Manta Ray at Socorro Island, Revillagigedos, Mexico.
Species: Giant manta ray, Manta birostris
Location: Socorro Island (Islas Revillagigedos), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 33297  

Seen at the American Museum of Natural History.
Location: American Museum of Natural History, New York City
Image ID: 11253  

Mountain lion, Sierra Nevada foothills, Mariposa, California.
Species: Mountain lion, Puma concolor
Image ID: 15791  

River Seine, barge and Ile Saint-Louis, sunrise, Paris. Ile Saint-Louis, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France. The island is named after King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis). The island is connected to the rest of Paris by bridges to both banks of the river and by the Pont Saint Louis to the Ile de la Cite.
Location: Ile Saint-Louis, Paris, France
Image ID: 28144  

Emperor angelfish, juvenile coloration.
Species: Emperor angelfish, Pomacanthus imperator
Image ID: 13743  

Silky Shark at San Benedicto Islands, Revillagigedos, Mexico.
Species: Silky shark, Carcharhinus falciformis
Location: Socorro Island (Islas Revillagigedos), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 33331  

Stars and the Milky Way over ancient bristlecone pine trees, in the White Mountains at an elevation of 10,000' above sea level. These are some of the oldest trees in the world, some exceeding 4000 years in age.
Species: Bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
Location: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California
Image ID: 29407  

Eyestripe surgeonfish.
Species: Eyestripe surgeonfish, Acanthurus dussumieri
Image ID: 08717  

Moorea rises above its lagoon and barrier reef, French Polynesia, aerial view. Cooks Bay lies in the distance.
Location: Moorea, French Polynesia, France
Image ID: 40672  

Aerial photograph of Medano Beach and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Location: Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 28937  

Adelie penguin, portrait showing beak and eye.
Species: Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae
Location: Paulet Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica
Image ID: 25068  

Laguna Beach Coastline including Views South to Three Arch Bay, Aerial Photo.
Location: Laguna Beach, California
Image ID: 38082  

Juvenile bald eagle, second year coloration plumage, closeup of head and shoulders, looking directly at camera, snowflakes visible on feathers. Immature coloration showing white speckling on feathers.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22589  

Yosemite Falls reflected in Flooded Sentinel Meadow, when the Merced River floods Yosemite Valley following a winter of historic snowfall in the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park, May 2023.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 39380  

Black-browed albatross chick on its nest, Steeple Jason Island breeding colony. The single egg is laid in September or October. Incubation takes 68 to 71 days, after which the chick is tended alternately by both adults until it fledges about 120 days later.
Species: Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophrys
Location: Steeple Jason Island, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom
Image ID: 24264  

Torrey Pines Cliffs and Pacific Ocean, Razor Point view to La Jolla, San Diego, California.
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 28495  

California sea lion underwater, Sea of Cortez, Mexico.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 31263