This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Common cuttlefish.
Species: Common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis
Image ID: 07802  

Brown bear tail and hind legs.
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 17106  

Male elephant seals (bulls) rear up on their foreflippers and fight in the surf for access for mating females that are in estrous. Such fighting among elephant seals can take place on the beach or in the water. They bite and tear at each other on the neck and shoulders, drawing blood and creating scars on the tough hides.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 20370  

The Kelp Forest offshore of La Jolla, California. A kelp forest. 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 throughout California's Southern Channel Islands.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 30998  

Giant damselfish juvenile, Sea of Cortez.
Location: Isla Las Animas, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 33687  

Ancient bristlecone pine trees in Patriarch Grove, display characteristic gnarled, twisted form as it rises above the arid, dolomite-rich slopes of the White Mountains at 11000-foot elevation. Patriarch Grove, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.
Species: Ancient bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
Location: White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California
Image ID: 28523  

An enormous blue whale rounds out (hunches up its back) before diving. Note the distinctive mottled skin pattern and small, falcate dorsal fin. Open ocean offshore of San Diego.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 07527  

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: 34564  

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  

Wind turbines provide electricity to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. San Gorgonio pass, San Bernardino mountains.
Location: San Gorgonio Pass, Palm Springs, California
Image ID: 06856  

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, Gorgonacea
Location: Vatu I Ra Passage, Bligh Waters, Viti Levu Island, Fiji
Image ID: 34712  

Four-eyed fish, found in the Amazon River delta of South America. The name four-eyed fish is actually a misnomer. It has only two eyes, but both are divided into aerial and aquatic parts. The two retinal regions of each eye, working in concert with two different curvatures of the eyeball above and below water to account for the difference in light refractivity for air and water, allow this amazing fish to see clearly above and below the water surface simultaneously.
Species: Four-eyed fish, Anableps anableps
Image ID: 09380  

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  

Feather boa kelp covers a rocky reef.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 34171  

Bison.
Species: American bison, Bison bison
Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19598  

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

The Organ at Courthouse Towers, narrow sandstone fins towering above the surrounding flatlands.
Location: Courthouse Towers, Arches National Park, Utah
Image ID: 18195  

Pink Skunk Anemone Fish, Amphiprion perideraion, Fiji.
Species: Pink anemonefish, Amphiprion perideraion
Location: Fiji
Image ID: 34884  

Clipperton Rock, a 95' high volcanic remnant, is the highest point on Clipperton Island, a spectacular coral atoll in the eastern Pacific. By permit HC / 1485 / CAB (France).
Location: Clipperton Island, France
Image ID: 32830  

The General Lee, an enormous Sequoia tree.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Giant Forest, Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California
Image ID: 09881  

Roman emperor Antonius Pius (138-161 A.D.), depicted on ancient Roman coin (bronze, denom/type: Sestertius) (Sestertius Obverse: ANTONINVS AVG PIUS PP TR P XXIII. Reverse: FORTUNA OBSEQVENS COS IIII SC. Fortuna Obsequens std. left., holding rudder and cornucopiae.).
Image ID: 06559  

Double-crested cormorant drys its wings in the sun following a morning of foraging in the ocean, La Jolla cliffs, near San Diego.
Species: Double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 28015  

Spotted ratfish.
Species: Spotted ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei
Image ID: 08904  

Blue shark underneath drift kelp, open ocean.
Species: Blue shark, Prionace glauca
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 01006  

Ancient Bristlecone Pine tree, White Mountain Wilderness, Inyo National Forest.
Species: Bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
Location: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California
Image ID: 29314  

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

A Florida manatee, or West Indian Manatee, swims slowly through the clear waters of Crystal River.
Species: West indian manatee, Trichechus manatus
Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida
Image ID: 02696  

Pelagic red tuna crab, open ocean.
Species: Pelagic red crab, Pleuroncodes planipes
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 02247  

Desert bighorn sheep, male ram. The desert bighorn sheep occupies dry, rocky mountain ranges in the Mojave and Sonoran desert regions of California, Nevada and Mexico. The desert bighorn sheep is highly endangered in the United States, having a population of only about 4000 individuals, and is under survival pressure due to habitat loss, disease, over-hunting, competition with livestock, and human encroachment.
Species: Desert bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis nelsoni
Image ID: 14651  

Hammerhead sharks, schooling over sand, Darwin Island, Galapagos.
Species: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini
Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16255