This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Ocean sunfish and freediving photographer, open ocean.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03325  

Blue whale underwater closeup photo. This picture of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit earth, shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view. Since this blue whale was approximately 80-90' 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: 27299  

Bald eagle spreads its wings to land amid a large group of bald eagles.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22681  

Two blue whales, a mother and her calf, swim through the open ocean in this aerial photograph. The calf is blowing (spouting, exhaling) with a powerful column of spray. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 02304  

Blue whale underwater photo showing entire whale head (rostrum) to tail (fluke). This picture of a blue whale shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view. Specialized underwater camera gear, including an extremely wide lens, was used to capture the entire enormous whale in a single photograph.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: California
Image ID: 27300  

Ocean sunfish with mouth for slurping zooplankton, open ocean.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03319  

Kelp frond showing pneumatocysts.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 00627  

Kelp forest, sunlight filters through towering stands of giant kelp, underwater.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 23456  

A Florida manatee, or West Indian Manatee, hovers in the clear waters of Crystal River.
Species: West indian manatee, Trichechus manatus
Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida
Image ID: 02653  

Mountain lion, Sierra Nevada foothills, Mariposa, California.
Species: Mountain lion, Puma concolor
Image ID: 15791  

Visitors admire hundreds of species at the Hall of Biodiversity, American Museum of Natural History.
Location: American Museum of Natural History, New York City
Image ID: 11224  

Bald eagle spreads its wings to land amid a large group of bald eagles.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22707  

Antelope jackrabbit.
Species: Antelope jackrabbit, Lepus alleni
Location: Amado, Arizona
Image ID: 22910  

Pacific harbor seal swims in the protected waters of Childrens Pool in La Jolla, California. 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: 03018  

The Kelp Forest offshore of La Jolla, California. 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 throughout California's Southern Channel Islands.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 30998  

Turtle grass is the most common seagrass in the Caribbean, typically growing on sandy and coral rubble bottoms to a depth of 30 feet.
Species: Turtle grass, Thalassia testudinum
Location: Great Isaac Island, Bahamas
Image ID: 10857  

Spotted eagle rays.
Species: Spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16333  

Purple-striped jelly.
Species: Purple-striped jellyfish, Chrysaora colorata
Image ID: 08976  

A mother Pacific harbor seal nuzzles her pup, born only a few hours earlier. The pup must bond and imprint on its mother quickly, and the pair will constantly nuzzle and rub against one another in order to solidify that bond.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39098  

Ocean sunfish recruiting fish near drift kelp to clean parasites, open ocean, Baja California.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Image ID: 03267  

West Indian manatee calf with viral skin infection covering body.
Species: West indian manatee, Trichechus manatus
Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida
Image ID: 06104  

Sand verbena wildflowers on sand dunes, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Species: Sand verbena, Abronia villosa
Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, California
Image ID: 30520  

Red gorgonian, 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.
Species: Red gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23480  

Ocean sunfish, open ocean, southern California.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 02413  

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.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 34178  

Blade Runner, the injured North Pacific humpback whale, is seen with her calf swimming alongside. This humpback whale showing extensive scarring, almost certainly from a boat propeller, on dorsal ridge. This female North Pacific humpback whale was first seen with the depicted lacerations near the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands in the mid-90s, and is the original humpback to bear the name 'Blade Runner'. This female has apparently recovered, as evidenced by her calf in the background. A South Pacific humpback whale endured a similar injury in Sydney Australia in 2001, and bears a remarkably similar scar pattern to the above-pictured whale.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 05907  

Gray whales, two males both with extended penis during courtship socialization, Laguna San Ignacio.
Species: Gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus
Location: San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 06431  

Eucalyptus tree, gum tree.
Species: Gum tree, Eucalyptus
Location: Del Mar, California
Image ID: 21490  

Camp Pendleton, viewed toward the north, including Pacific ocean and Interstate 5 freeway. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
Location: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
Image ID: 25995  

Ceiling art detail.
Location: Chateau de Versailles, Paris, France
Image ID: 28069  
Panorama dimensions: 5392 x 6250