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| Boat Horizon above kelp forest. Image ID: 03764 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Red gorgonian polyps. The red gorgonian is a colonial organism composed of thousands of tiny polyps. Each polyp secretes calcium which accumulates to form the structure of the colony. The fan-shaped gorgonian is oriented perpendicular to prevailing ocean currents to better enable to filter-feeding polyps to capture passing plankton and detritus passing by. Image ID: 03480 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | A great white shark swims just below the rippled ocean surface of Isla Guadalupe, far offshore of the Pacific Coast of Baja California. Image ID: 07717 Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico |
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| Galapagos land iguana. Image ID: 02991 Species: Galapagos land iguana, Conolophus subcristatus Location: South Plaza Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador | Fin whale dorsal fin. The fin whale is named for its tall, falcate dorsal fin. Mariners often refer to them as finback whales. Coronado Islands, Mexico (northern Baja California, near San Diego). Image ID: 12769 Species: Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico | Fin whale dorsal fin. The fin whale is named for its tall, falcate dorsal fin. Mariners often refer to them as finback whales. Coronado Islands, Mexico (northern Baja California, near San Diego). Image ID: 12771 Species: Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico |
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| A fin whale blows at the surface between dives. Coronado Islands, Mexico (northern Baja California, near San Diego). Image ID: 12772 Species: Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico | Galapagos sea lion on volcanic rocks, sunset. Image ID: 16504 Species: Galapagos sea lion, Zalophus californianus wollebacki, Zalophus californianus wollebaeki Location: Isla Lobos, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador | Galapagos land iguana. Image ID: 16581 Species: Galapagos land iguana, Conolophus subcristatus Location: North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador |
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| Darwins Arch, a dramatic 50-foot tall natural lava arch, rises above the ocean a short distance offshore of Darwin Island. Image ID: 16621 Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador | Magnificent frigatebird, adult male on nest, with raised wings and throat pouch inflated in a courtship display to attract females. Image ID: 16728 Species: Magnificent frigatebird, Fregata magnificens Location: North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador | Dorsal fin of a great white shark breaks the surface as the shark swims just below. Image ID: 19493 Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico |
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| Guadalupe fur seal, hauled out upon volcanic rocks along the shoreline of Guadalupe Island. Image ID: 21352 Species: Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico | Great white shark, dorsal fin extended out of the water as it swims near the surface. Image ID: 21354 Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico | Garibaldi swims in the kelp forest, sunlight filters through towering giant kelp plants rising from the ocean bottom to the surface, underwater. Image ID: 23419 Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus Location: Catalina Island, California, USA |
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| Red gorgonian on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. The red gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 23420 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | California golden gorgonian and small juvenile sheephead fishes on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. The golden gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 23421 Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Semicossyphus pulcher Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | A SCUBA diver enters a submarine cavern at Santa Barbara Island, underwater cave. Image ID: 23423 Location: Santa Barbara Island, California, USA |
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| Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders, float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface and sunlight, where the leaf-like blades and stipes of the kelp plant grow fastest. Giant kelp can grow up to 2' in a single day given optimal conditions. Epic submarine forests of kelp grow throughout California's Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 23424 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Red gorgonian on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. The red gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 23425 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Giant kelp plants lean over in ocean currents, underwater. Individual kelp plants grow from the rocky reef, to which they are attached, up to the ocean surface and form a vibrant community in which fishes, mammals and invertebrates thrive. Image ID: 23426 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| A kelp forest. Giant kelp grows rapidly, up to 2' per day, from the rocky reef on the ocean bottom to which it is anchored, toward the ocean surface where it spreads to form a thick canopy. Myriad species of fishes, mammals and invertebrates form a rich community in the kelp forest. Lush forests of kelp are found through California's Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 23428 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders, float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface and sunlight, where the leaf-like blades and stipes of the kelp plant grow fastest. Giant kelp can grow up to 2' in a single day given optimal conditions. Epic submarine forests of kelp grow throughout California's Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 23430 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Red gorgonian on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. The red gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 23431 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Garibaldi and golden gorgonian, with a underwater forest of giant kelp rising in the background, underwater. Image ID: 23432 Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Hypsypops rubicundus Location: Catalina Island, California, USA | California golden gorgonian on rocky reef, underwater. The golden gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 25397 Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Brown gorgonians on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that live on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by. Image ID: 25398 Species: Brown gorgonian, Muricea fruticosa Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders, float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface and sunlight, where the leaf-like blades and stipes of the kelp plant grow fastest. Giant kelp can grow up to 2' in a single day given optimal conditions. Epic submarine forests of kelp grow throughout California's Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 25399 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | A view of an underwater forest of giant kelp. Giant kelp grows rapidly, up to 2' per day, from the rocky reef on the ocean bottom to which it is anchored, toward the ocean surface where it spreads to form a thick canopy. Myriad species of fishes, mammals and invertebrates form a rich community in the kelp forest. Lush forests of kelp are found through California's Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 25400 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders, float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface and sunlight, where the leaf-like blades and stipes of the kelp plant grow fastest. Giant kelp can grow up to 2' in a single day given optimal conditions. Epic submarine forests of kelp grow throughout California's Southern Channel Islands. Image ID: 25403 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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