This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Salmon leap up falls on their upriver journey to spawn, Brooks Falls.
Location: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 17362  

Ocean sunfish and photographer, open ocean.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03323  

Blue whale, open blowholes, rounding out.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 02171  

California sea lion hauled out on rocks beside the ocean.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 20129  

Aerial panorama of Clipperton Island, showing the entire atoll. Clipperton Island, a minor territory of France also known as Ile de la Passion, is a small (2.3 sq mi) but spectacular coral atoll in the eastern Pacific. By permit HC / 1485 / CAB (France).
Location: Clipperton Island, France
Image ID: 32835  
Panorama dimensions: 5523 x 9328

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

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.
Species: Red gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23487  

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.
Species: Red gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 25394  

Northern elephant seal, detail of fin, flipper, webbing, tail fin. Sandy beach rookery, winter, Central California.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 18722  

California Brown pelican in flight, soaring along sea cliffs above the ocean in La Jolla, California. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Image ID: 37410  

Rattlesnake Canyon, a beautiful slot canyon that is part of the larger Antelope Canyon system. Page, Arizona.
Location: Navajo Tribal Lands, Page, Arizona
Image ID: 36034  

Ceiling detail, Musee du Louvre.
Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Image ID: 28043  

Plexauridae sea fan or gorgonian on coral reef. This gorgonian is a type of colonial alcyonacea soft coral that filters plankton from passing ocean currents.
Species: Gorgonian, Sea fan, Gorgonacea, Plexauridae
Location: Vatu I Ra Passage, Bligh Waters, Viti Levu Island, Fiji
Image ID: 31641  

Scarring of this humpback whale's fluke allow researchers to identify this particular whale from season to season.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Santa Rosa Island, California
Image ID: 27027  

Guadalupe fur seal, hauled out upon volcanic rocks along the shoreline of Guadalupe Island.
Species: Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 21447  

Mountain lion.
Species: Mountain lion, Puma concolor
Image ID: 12279  

Ground pink blooms in spring, Batiquitos Lagoon, Carlsbad.
Species: Ground pink, Linanthus dianthiflorus
Location: Batiquitos Lagoon, Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 11503  

Trumpet fish.
Species: Trumpetfish (pacific), Aulostomus chinensis
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 05197  

Serval cat, melanistic variation, Meru National Park, Kenya.
Species: Serval cat, Leptailurus serval
Location: Meru National Park, Kenya
Image ID: 29691  

Adult male humpback whale bubble streaming underwater. The male escort humpback whale seen here is emitting a curtain of bubbles as it swims behind a mother and calf. The bubble curtain may be meant as warning or visual obstruction to other nearby male whales interested in the mother.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 05926  

Bluebanded goby, Catalina.
Species: Bluebanded goby, Lythrypnus dalli
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 04597  

The General Sherman Sequoia tree is the largest (most massive) living thing on earth, standing over 275 feet tall with a 36 diameter and 102 circumference at its base. Its volume is over 53,000 cubic feet. It is estimated to be 2300 to 2700 years old.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Giant Forest, Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California
Image ID: 09872  

A male sockeye salmon, showing injuries sustained as it migrated hundreds of miles from the ocean up the Fraser River, swims upstream in the Adams River to reach the place where it will fertilize eggs laid by a female in the rocks. It will die so after spawning.
Species: Sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka
Location: Adams River, Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada
Image ID: 26174  

Sea otters mating. The male holds the female's head or nose with his jaws during copulation. Visible scars are often present on females from this behavior. Sea otters have a polygynous mating system. Many males actively defend territories and will mate with females that inhabit their territory or seek out females in estrus if no territory is established. Males and females typically bond for the duration of estrus, or about 3 days.
Species: Sea otter, Enhydra lutris
Location: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, California
Image ID: 21606  

Salp (pelagic tunicate) reproduction, open ocean.
Species: Salp, Cyclosalpa affinis
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 04696  

The Fire Wave, a uniquely striped sandstone formation in Valley of Fire State Park.
Location: Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
Image ID: 26632  

Joshua trees, a species of yucca common in the lower Colorado desert and upper Mojave desert ecosystems.
Species: Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia
Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California
Image ID: 26747  

Dune Evening Primrose Wildflowers, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Species: Dune evening primrose, Dune primrose, Oenothera deltoides
Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, California
Image ID: 30531  

California Pelican flying on a wave, riding the updraft from the wave.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Image ID: 30257  

Greater roadrunner.
Species: Greater roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus
Location: Amado, Arizona
Image ID: 22980