A mother California sea lion (left) and her pup (right), underwater at the Coronado Islands, Mexico. Mothers and pups spend much time together with the mother teaching her young padawan learner how to pursue prey. I spent a lot of time over 6 days watching this pair in Fall 2023.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39960
Adult male humpback whale singing, suspended motionless underwater. Only male humpbacks have been observed singing. All humpbacks in the North Pacific sing the same whale song each year, and the song changes slightly from one year to the next.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 02796
Blue whale skeleton in Antarctica, on the shore at Port Lockroy, Antarctica. This skeleton is composed primarily of blue whale bones, but there are believed to be bones of other baleen whales included in the skeleton as well.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: Port Lockroy, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica
Image ID: 25604
Bryozoan grows on a 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: 25395
Two Bodysurfing Sea Lions Side by Side. California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) is surfing extreme shorebreak at Boomer Beach, Point La Jolla. The original bodysurfer.
Species: California Sea Lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37750
Garibaldi swims in the kelp forest, sunlight filters through towering giant kelp plants rising from the ocean bottom to the surface, underwater.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 23419
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: 25393