This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Mount Rainier is reflected in the calm waters of Reflection Lake, early morning.
Location: Reflection Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Image ID: 13857  

Guadalupe fur seal.
Species: Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 02358  

Longear sunfish. Male longear sunfishes, which are larger and more colorful than the females, build nests, using their tails to carve pits out of gravel where the females can lay their eggs. The males then guard the nest until the eggs have hatched and the young fish are large enough to leave.
Species: Longear sunfish, Lepomis megalotis
Image ID: 13963  

Spanish ribbed newt.
Species: Spanish ribbed newt, Pleurodeles waltl
Image ID: 13977  

Lesser siren, a large amphibian with external gills, can also obtain oxygen by gulping air into its lungs, an adaptation that allows it to survive periods of drought. It is native to the southeastern United States.
Species: Lesser siren, Siren intermedia
Image ID: 13980  

Panther grouper.
Species: Panther grouper, Chromileptis altiveles
Image ID: 12878  

Amethystine python. The amethystine python is Australias biggest snake. They are nocturnal and arboreal, inhabiting tropical rainforests, monsoon forests and vine forests.
Species: Amethystine python, Morelia amethistina
Image ID: 12570  

Humpback whale breaching, near Molokai, Hawaii. Megaptera novaeangliae. It is suspected the breaching often has a communicative purpose which depends on the behavioral context of the moment.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 00205  

Blue whale, exhaling at surface, Baja California.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 03031  

Krill, Baja California (Pacific Ocean).
Species: Krill, Thysanoessa spinifera
Image ID: 03117  

Ocean sunfish, open ocean.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03320  

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  

Gray whale, Laguna San Ignacio.
Species: Gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus
Location: San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 03399  

Marine iguanas, Punta Espinosa.
Species: Marine iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus
Location: Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 03471  

California Golden gorgonian polyps. The golden 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.
Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 03481  

Giant Sequoia tree.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 03675  

SCUBA diver swims over enormous field of phyllospadix surfgrass at Guadalupe Island.
Species: Surfgrass, Phyllospadix
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 03736  

Humpback whale swimming with raised pectoral fin (ventral aspect).
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 04132  

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

Polyp, strawberry anemone (club-tipped anemone, more correctly a corallimorph).
Species: Strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica
Location: Scripps Canyon, La Jolla, California
Image ID: 04738  

Trumpetfish camouflages itself among the branches of a gorgonian coral (also known as sea rods).
Species: Trumpetfish (atlantic), Aulostomus maculatus, Plexaurella
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 05210  

Two band anemonefish.
Species: Anemonefish, Amphiprion bicinctus
Location: Egyptian Red Sea
Image ID: 05260  

Christmas tree worm (annelid).
Species: Christmas tree worm, Spirobranchus
Location: Punte Vicente Roca, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 05351  

Sand dollars.
Species: Sand dollar, Dendraster excentricus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 05369  

A huge blue whale swims through the open ocean in this underwater photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 03027  

A Pacific harbor seal swims over surf grass 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: 03021  

Spanish shawl nudibranch.
Species: Purple aeolis, Spanish shawl, Flabellina iodinea, Flabellinopsis iodinea
Location: California
Image ID: 00266  

Southern stingray.
Species: Southern stingray, Dasyatis americana
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 00311  

Humpback whale performing a peduncle throw at the surface, swinging its fluke (tail) sideways and flinging water all over.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 00451  

Horn shark eating opalescent squid eggs, Loligo opalescens.
Species: Horn shark, Heterodontus francisci
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 01069