White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38279
Newborn harbor seal pup watches a Western seagull approach. The gull is trying to pick at placenta on the sandy beach as the seal pup, born just moments before, watches and tries to understand what is going on. Within an hour of being born, this pup had learned to nurse and had entered the ocean for its first swim.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39076
A humpback whale performs a peduncle throw in which it uses its long pectoral fins as levers to swing its fluke and caudal stem out of the water, flinging water everywhere., the coast of Del Mar and La Jolla is visible in the distance.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Del Mar, California
Image ID: 27142
A huge blue whale swims through the open ocean in this aerial photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 02169
Blue whale aerial photo, with the shadow of the survey plane providing scale as to how huge the whale really is.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 02168
Blue whale fluking up (raising its tail) before a dive to forage for krill, Baja California (Mexico).
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 03332
Humpback Whale Fluke ID. Perfect view of the ventral surface of a humpback whale's fluke, as the whale raises its fluke just before diving underwater. The white patches, spots, scratches and scalloping along the trailing edge of the fluke make this whale identifiable when it is observed from year to year.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Sitka Sound, Alaska
Image ID: 41566
Humpback Whale Fluke ID. Perfect view of the ventral surface of a humpback whale's fluke, as the whale raises its fluke just before diving underwater. The white patches, spots, scratches and scalloping along the trailing edge of the fluke make this whale identifiable when it is observed from year to year.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Sitka Sound, Alaska
Image ID: 41736
Humpback Whale Fluke ID. Perfect view of the ventral surface of a humpback whale's fluke, as the whale raises its fluke just before diving underwater. The white patches, spots, scratches and scalloping along the trailing edge of the fluke make this whale identifiable when it is observed from year to year.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Sitka Sound, Alaska
Image ID: 41567
Mating pair of southern right whales underwater (on left). The gray adult whale on the right was formerly a white calf and, while it is not longer white, will remain lighter than normal throughout its life, Eubalaena australis, Argentina.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 35923