This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Young hikers are dwarfed by the trunk of an enormous Sequoia tree.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Giant Forest, Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California
Image ID: 09879  

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: 35112  

Having just mated with a female (obscured) next to him, this bull male elephant seal's penis is still extended and visible.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 20423  

Adult male humpback whale singing, suspended motionless underwater. Only male humpbacks have been observed singing. All humpbacks in the North Pacific sing the same whale song each year, and the song changes slightly from one year to the next.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 02794  

First light on Morro Rock, sunrise.
Location: Morro Bay, California
Image ID: 22216  

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park, San Diego. The Botanical Building, at 250 feet long by 75 feet wide and 60 feet tall, was the largest wood lath structure in the world when it was built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. The Botanical Building, located on the Prado, west of the Museum of Art, contains about 2,100 permanent tropical plants along with changing seasonal flowers. The Lily Pond, just south of the Botanical Building, is an eloquent example of the use of reflecting pools to enhance architecture. The 193' by 43' foot pond and smaller companion pool were originally referred to as Las Lagunas de las Flores (The Lakes of the Flowers) and were designed as aquatic gardens. The pools contain exotic water lilies and lotus which bloom spring through fall.
Location: Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Image ID: 28823  

Ocean sunfish schooling near drift kelp, soliciting cleaner fishes, open ocean, Baja California.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Image ID: 06304  

Golden Gate Bridge, viewed from the Marin Headlands with the city of San Francisco in the distance. Late afternoon.
Location: San Francisco, California
Image ID: 09048  

Peregrine Falcon fledgelings jousting in mid-air during flight.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41760  

Peregrine Falcon fledgelings jousting in mid-air during flight.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41763  

Peregrine Falcon fledgelings jousting in mid-air during flight.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41759  

Aerial Photo of Point La Jolla and Scripps Park, La Jolla Coastline.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 38083  

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

Peregrine Falcon in flight, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41737  

Fledgeling Peregrine Falcons in flight, juveniles, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41743  

Oceanside Pier at dusk, sunset, night. Oceanside.
Location: Oceanside Pier, California
Image ID: 14628  

Humpback whales surface together during coordinated bubble-net feeding in Southeast Alaska. The whales use bubbles, sound, and movement to corral fish before capturing them in their open mouths.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Sitka Sound, Alaska
Image ID: 41600  

Peregrine Falcon fledgeling portrait during flight.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41761  

Ancient bristlecone pine tree, rising above the arid, dolomite-rich slopes of the Schulman Grove in the White Mountains at an elevation of 9500 above sea level, along the Methuselah Walk. The oldest bristlecone pines in the world are found in the Schulman Grove, some of them over 4700 years old. Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.
Species: Bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
Location: White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California
Image ID: 23236  

Hickman Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park. A natural bridge formed by water eroding it from below, Hickman Bridge is one of the most spectacular and easily accessible natural bridges in the United States.
Location: Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Image ID: 37016  

Colonial planktonic pelagic tunicate, adrift in the open ocean, forms rings and chains as it drifts with ocean currents.
Species: Salp, Cyclosalpa affinis
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 26826  

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: 28487  

Vernal Falls at peak flow in late spring, viewed from the Mist Trail.
Location: Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 12638  

Humpback whales surface together during coordinated bubble-net feeding in Southeast Alaska. The whales use bubbles, sound, and movement to corral fish before capturing them in their open mouths.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Sitka Sound, Alaska
Image ID: 41584  

Torrey Pines State Beach, sandstone cliffs rise above the beach at Torrey Pines State Reserve.
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 27255  

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  

Mount Rainier is reflected in the calm waters of Reflection Lake, early morning.
Location: Reflection Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Image ID: 13853  

Peregrine Falcon fledgelings jousting in mid-air during flight.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, Califoria
Image ID: 41764  

Paradise Meadows, wildflowers and Mount Rainier, summer.
Location: Paradise Meadows, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Image ID: 13895  

Great frigatebird, adult male, in flight, carrying twig for nest building, green iridescence of scapular feathers identifying species. Wolf Island.
Species: Great frigatebird, Fregata minor
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16708