|
|
 |
|
|
| Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, seen here at night with swirling star trails formed in the sky above due to a long time exposure. Image ID: 27681 Location: Alabama Hills Recreational Area, California, USA | Racetrack sailing stone and star trails. A sliding rock of the 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. Image ID: 27671 Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA | Blue whale, swimming through the open ocean. Image ID: 21248 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
|
|
|
| Stars and the Milky Way rise above 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, reaching 4000 years in age. Image ID: 27772 Species: Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva Location: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California, USA | Breaking wave, tube, hollow barrel, morning surf. Image ID: 19553 | Giant redwood, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park. The coastal redwood, or simply 'redwood', is the tallest tree on Earth, reaching a height of 379' and living 3500 years or more. It is native to coastal California and the southwestern corner of Oregon within the United States, but most concentrated in Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California, found close to the coast where moisture and soil conditions can support its unique size and growth requirements. Image ID: 25795 Species: Coast redwood, giant redwood, California redwood, Sequoia sempervirens Location: Redwood National Park, California, USA |
|
|
|
| Broken Hill with the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Broken Hill is an ancient, compacted sand dune that was uplifted to its present location and is now eroding. Image ID: 14758 Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California, USA | The Virgin River flows by autumn cottonwood trees, part of the Virgin River Narrows. This is a fantastic hike in fall with the comfortable temperatures, beautiful fall colors and light crowds. Image ID: 26098 Location: Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah, USA | Water rushes through a narrow crack, in the red sandstone of Zion National Park, with fallen autumn leaves. Image ID: 26100 Location: Zion National Park, Utah, USA |
|
|
|
| The Milky Way galaxy arcs above Arch Rock, panoramic photograph, cylindrical projection. Image ID: 26848 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 6121 x 10275 | 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: 25396 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Eureka Dunes. The Eureka Valley Sand Dunes are California's tallest sand dunes, and one of the tallest in the United States. Rising 680' above the floor of the Eureka Valley, the Eureka sand dunes are home to several endangered species, as well as "singing sand" that makes strange sounds when it shifts. Located in the remote northern portion of Death Valley National Park, the Eureka Dunes see very few visitors. Image ID: 25250 Location: Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California, USA |
|
|
|
| Star trails and Arch Rock. Polaris, the North Star, is at the center of the circular arc star trails as they pass above this natural stone archway in Joshua Tree National Park. Image ID: 27709 Location: Alabama Hills Recreational Area, California, USA | Balanced Rock and Milky Way stars at night. Image ID: 27835 Location: Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, Utah, USA | 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. Image ID: 24071 Species: Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans Location: Southern Ocean |
|
|
|
| King penguin, showing ornate and distinctive neck, breast and head plumage and orange beak. Image ID: 24581 Species: King penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus Location: Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island | A sliding rock of the 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. Image ID: 25239 Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA | Bald eagle in flight, wing spread, soaring. Image ID: 22604 Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska, USA |
|
|
|
| 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. Image ID: 23233 Species: Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva Location: White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California, USA | Yellow cottonwood trees in autumn, fall colors in the Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park. Image ID: 26090 Location: Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah, USA | San Diego city skyline at dusk, viewed from Harbor Island, the Star of India at right. Image ID: 14533 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
|
|
 |
| Sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park. Image ID: 22100 Species: Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA | Breaking wave, early morning surf. Image ID: 19404 Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA | Adelie penguin on an iceberg. Image ID: 25006 Species: Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Location: Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica |
|
|
|
| Coyote, pausing to look for prey as it passes through Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Image ID: 21803 Species: Coyote, Canis latrans Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico, USA | Blue whale feeding on krill underwater closeup photo. A picture of a blue whale with its throat pleats inflated with a mouthful of krill. Image ID: 27309 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: California, USA | Salt polygons. After winter flooding, the salt on the Badwater Basin playa dries into geometric polygonal shapes. Image ID: 25242 Location: Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA |
|
|
|
| Racetrack Playa, an ancient lake now dried and covered with dessicated mud. Image ID: 25264 Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA | A giant sequoia tree, soars skyward from the forest floor, lit by the morning sun and surrounded by other sequioas. The massive trunk characteristic of sequoia trees is apparent, as is the crown of foliage starting high above the base of the tree. Image ID: 23259 Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA | Sunset at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, with sandhill cranes silhouetted in reflection in the calm pond. Spectacular sunsets at Bosque del Apache, rich in reds, oranges, yellows and purples, make for striking reflections of the thousands of cranes and geese found in the refuge each winter. Image ID: 21804 Species: Sandhill crane, Grus canadensis Location: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico, USA |
Related Topics:
Keywords: