This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

A great white shark swims through the clear waters of Isla Guadalupe, far offshore of the Pacific Coast of Baja California. Guadalupe Island is host to a concentration of large great white sharks, which visit the island to feed on pinnipeds and tuna.
Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 07704  

California sea lion underwater, Sea of Cortez, Mexico.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 31214  

Hotel del Coronado with holiday Christmas night lights, known affectionately as the Hotel Del. It was once the largest hotel in the world, and is one of the few remaining wooden Victorian beach resorts. It sits on the beach on Coronado Island, seen here with downtown San Diego in the distance. It is widely considered to be one of Americas most beautiful and classic hotels. Built in 1888, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 27405  

Blue whales feeding on krill underwater closeup photo. A picture of a blue whale with its throat pleats inflated with a mouthful of krill. A calf swims behind and below the adult. Over 80' 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: 27314  

Longhorn cowfish.
Species: Longhorn cowfish, Lactoria cornuta
Image ID: 07836  

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

Limestone and marble underground formations, Miller's Chapel grotto in Oregon Caves National Monument. Eons of acidified groundwater have slowly etched away at marble, creating the extensive and intricate cave formations in Oregon Caves National Monument.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25864  

San Diego downtown city skyline and waterfront, sunrise, dawn, viewed from Coronado Island.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 27091  

Sea fan gorgonian on coral reef, Grand Cayman Island.
Location: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Image ID: 32121  

Pacific creolefish.
Species: Pacific creolefish, Paranthias colonus
Location: Cousins, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 05108  

A Pacific harbor seal hauled out on a sandy beach. This group of harbor seals, which has formed a breeding colony at a small but popular beach near San Diego, is at the center of considerable controversy. While harbor seals are protected from harassment by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other legislation, local interests would like to see the seals leave so that people can resume using the beach.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 15056  

Nevada Falls, with Liberty Cap rising above it. Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below.
Location: Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16127  

Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below.
Location: Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16123  

Male elephant seals (bulls) rear up on their foreflippers and fight for territory and harems of females. Bull elephant seals will haul out and fight from December through March, nearly fasting the entire time as they maintain their territory and harem. They bite and tear at each other on the neck and shoulders, drawing blood and creating scars on the tough hides. Sandy beach rookery, winter, Central California.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 15393  

Great egret (white egret).
Species: Great egret, Ardea alba
Location: Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, Newport Beach, California
Image ID: 15657  

Latourelle Falls, in Guy W. Talbot State Park, drops 249 feet through a lush forest near the Columbia River.
Location: Latourelle Falls, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon
Image ID: 19347  

Yosemite Falls is reflected in a springtime pool in flooded Cooks Meadow, Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16152  

Grizzly bear in snow.
Species: Grizzly bear, Ursus arctos horribilis
Location: Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19616  

Coyote in snow covered field along the Madison River.
Species: Coyote, Canis latrans
Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19635  

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: 02812  

Horsetail Falls drops 176 feet just a few yards off the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway.
Location: Horsetail Falls, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon
Image ID: 19318  

The Carlsbad Flower Fields, 50+ acres of flowering Tecolote Ranunculus flowers, bloom each spring from March through May.
Location: Carlsbad Flower Fields, California
Image ID: 18911  

The Carlsbad Flower Fields, 50+ acres of flowering Tecolote Ranunculus flowers, bloom each spring from March through May.
Location: Carlsbad Flower Fields, California
Image ID: 18910  

Cormorants flying.
Location: Batiquitos Lagoon, Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 18557  

Breaking wave, Ponto, South Carlsbad.
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 17679  

Full grown, mature male coastal brown bear boar (grizzly bear) in sedge grass meadows.
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 19161  

Scalloped hammerhead shark swims over a reef in the Galapagos Islands. The hammerheads eyes and other sensor organs are placed far apart on its wide head to give the shark greater ability to sense the location of prey.
Species: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16246  

Yosemite Falls is reflected in a springtime pool in flooded Cooks Meadow, Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16158  

Yosemite Falls (upper, middle and lower sections) at peak flow, spring, Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16148  

Short fin pilot whale, Sea of Cortez.
Species: Shortfin pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus
Image ID: 00104