This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Sperm whale blowhole (left side of head).
Species: Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus
Location: Sao Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal
Image ID: 02073  

North Pacific 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 the calf she was observed nurturing. 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: 05909  

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

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

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

Sunlight streams through giant kelp forest. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky reef to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 33434  

Sunlight streams through giant kelp forest. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky reef to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 33438  

Blue whale aerial photo, with the shadow of the survey plane providing scale as to how huge the whale really is.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 02168  

Blue whale underwater closeup photo. This incredible picture of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit earth, shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: California
Image ID: 27331  

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  

La Tour Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, who designed the tower in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair. The Eiffel tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world.
Location: Tour Eiffel, Paris, France
Image ID: 35676  

Horn shark.
Species: Horn shark, Heterodontus francisci
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 01071  

San Diego City Skyline at Sunset, viewed from Point Loma, Shelter Island Yacht Club in the foreground, San Diego Bay, Mount San Miguel (right) and Lyons Peak (left) in distance.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 36749  

Detail within the Mandelbrot set fractal. This detail is found by zooming in on the overall Mandelbrot set image, finding edges and buds with interesting features. Fractals are complex geometric shapes that exhibit repeating patterns typified by self-similarity, or the tendency for the details of a shape to appear similar to the shape itself. Often these shapes resemble patterns occurring naturally in the physical world, such as spiraling leaves, seemingly random coastlines, erosion and liquid waves. Fractals are generated through surprisingly simple underlying mathematical expressions, producing subtle and surprising patterns. The basic iterative expression for the Mandelbrot set is z = z-squared + c, operating in the complex (real, imaginary) number set.
Species: Mandelbrot fractal, Mandelbrot set
Image ID: 10401  

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  

Angel shark, Islas San Benito.
Species: Angel shark, Squatina californica
Location: San Benito Islands (Islas San Benito), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 05792  

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  

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

Humpback whale with one of its long pectoral fins raised aloft out of the water, swimming on its side (laterally) as it does so.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 01470  

Manta ray and scuba diver.
Species: Giant manta ray, Manta birostris
Location: San Benedicto Island (Islas Revillagigedos), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 02466  

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  

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  

Sky Rock petroglyphs near Bishop, California, sunrise light just touching clouds and the Sierra Nevada. Hidden atop an enormous boulder in the Volcanic Tablelands lies Sky Rock, a set of petroglyphs that face the sky. These superb examples of native American petroglyph artwork are thought to be Paiute in origin, but little is known about them.
Location: Bishop, California
Image ID: 26979  

Encinitas city sign lit at night over Highway 101.
Location: Encinitas, California
Image ID: 28841  

Blue whale, exhaling in a huge blow as it swims at the surface between deep dives. The blue whale's blow is a combination of water spray from around its blowhole and condensation from its warm breath.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 34560  

Sailing stone on the Death Valley Racetrack playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter.
Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 25329  

Kelp canopy.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 00600  

Antenna towers atop San Miguel Mountain, aerial view. San Miguel Mountain reaches an altitude of 2565 feet, and hosts commercial radio and television antennas for the San Diego region, east of downtown San Diego.
Location: San Miguel Mountain, San Diego, California
Image ID: 22141  

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  

California sea lion underwater playing with sea star.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 27428