This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Flamingo tongue snail.
Species: Flamingo tongue cowrie, Cyphoma gibbosum
Location: Roatan, Honduras
Image ID: 02554  

Feral goat atop ridge at sunset.
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 03711  

Ocean sunfish schooling, open ocean near San Diego.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03562  

Atlantic spotted dolphin and Olympic champion swimmer Matt Biondi.
Species: Atlantic spotted dolphin, Stenella frontalis
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 00018  

California sea lion, swimming with foreflippers.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Image ID: 03228  

Pelagic salp chain, open ocean.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 03161  

California sea lion colony, Los Coronado Islands.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 03077  

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: 03017  

Humpback whale competitive group, several adult male escort whales swimming closely together as part of a larger competitive group.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 02864  

Wild heliotrope, Glorietta Canyon. Heavy winter rains led to a historic springtime bloom in 2005, carpeting the entire desert in vegetation and color for months.
Species: Wild heliotrope, Phacelia distans
Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, California
Image ID: 10929  

Blue chromis.
Species: Blue chromis, Chromis cyanea
Image ID: 11035  

Old Point Loma Lighthouse, sitting high atop the end of Point Loma peninsula, seen here with San Diego Bay and downtown San Diego in the distance. The old Point Loma lighthouse operated from 1855 to 1891 above the entrance to San Diego Bay. It is now a maintained by the National Park Service and is part of Cabrillo National Monument.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 22352  

Scripps Clinic and Torrey Pines Golf Course, with the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 22318  

A brown pelican preening, reaching with its beak to the uropygial gland (preen gland) near the base of its tail. Preen oil from the uropygial gland is spread by the pelican's beak and back of its head to all other feathers on the pelican, helping to keep them water resistant and dry.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 22268  

A raft of sea otters. A raft is a congregation of sea otters, usually in a resting mode. While rafting sea otters appear to suggest a tendancy toward a group social structure, sea otters can also be solitary animals.
Species: Sea otter, Enhydra lutris
Location: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, California
Image ID: 21657  

A sea otter eats a clam that it has taken from the shallow sandy bottom of Elkhorn Slough. Because sea otters have such a high metabolic rate, they eat up to 30% of their body weight each day in the form of clams, mussels, urchins, crabs and abalone. Sea otters are the only known tool-using marine mammal, using a stone or old shell to open the shells of their prey as they float on their backs.
Species: Sea otter, Enhydra lutris
Location: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, California
Image ID: 21612  

Rainforest Trail in Pacific Rim NP, one of the best places along the Pacific Coast to experience an old-growth rain forest, complete with western hemlock, red cedar and amabilis fir trees. Moss gardens hang from tree crevices, forming a base for many ferns and conifer seedlings.
Location: Rainforest Trail, Pacific Rim National Park, British Columbia, Canada
Image ID: 21061  

Totems on display in the Royal British Columbia Museum.
Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Image ID: 21049  

Ancient Douglas fir trees in Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is home to huge, ancient, old-growth Douglas fir trees. About 300 years ago a fire killed most of the trees in this grove, but a small number of trees survived and were the originators of what is now Cathedral Grove. Western redcedar trees grow in adundance in the understory below the taller Douglas fir trees.
Species: Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii
Location: Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Image ID: 21037  

Torrey Pines State Beach, sandstone cliffs rise above the beach at Torrey Pines State Reserve.
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 22435  

Bald eagle, standing on snow-covered ground, other bald eagles in the background.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22608  

Camp Pendleton, Pacific coastline, north of San Diego county and the city of Oceanside. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
Location: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
Image ID: 25980  

Aerial photo of the West End of Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 25978  

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.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 25435  

King penguin, showing ornate and distinctive neck, breast and head plumage and orange beak.
Species: King penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus
Location: Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island
Image ID: 24662  

South Georgia Island coastline, showing the island's characteristic rugged topography. 56% of the island is covered by 161 glaciers, which have created numerous large bays and inlets that provide excellent habitat for marine animals and seabirds. Mountains meet the sea in steep-sided seacliffs covered with sparse vegetation. The highest point on South Georgia Island is Mt. Paget at 2,915m.
Location: South Georgia Island
Image ID: 24363  

Aspens turn yellow in autumn, changing color alongside the south fork of Bishop Creek at sunset.
Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides
Location: Bishop Creek Canyon, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California
Image ID: 23392  

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.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23259  

Half Dome and storm clouds at sunset, viewed from Sentinel Bridge.
Location: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 22744  

Del Mar Fair rides at night, blurring due to long exposure.
Location: Del Mar Fair, California
Image ID: 20875