This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

A huge blue whale swims through the open ocean in this aerial photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Image ID: 02169  

Salt Creek surf, pretty big day, winter, morning.
Location: Salt Creek, Laguna Niguel, California
Image ID: 14851  

Glacial erratic boulders atop Olmsted Point. Erratics are huge boulders left behind by the passing of glaciers which carved the granite surroundings into their present-day form. When the glaciers melt, any boulders and other geologic material that it was carrying are left in place, sometimes many miles from their original location.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23265  

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  

Coast Highway 101, looking south from Del Mar, with Los Penasquitos Marsh on the left and the cliffs of Torrey Pines State Reserve and La Jolla in the distance.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 22310  

Black bear in a tree. Black bears are expert tree climbers and will ascend trees if they sense danger or the approach of larger bears, to seek a place to rest, or to get a view of their surroundings.
Species: American black bear, Ursus americanus
Location: Orr, Minnesota
Image ID: 18767  

Bristlecone pine displays its 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: Bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
Location: White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California
Image ID: 17487  

Sea nettles.
Species: Sea nettles, Chrysaora fuscescens
Image ID: 08952  

Purple-striped jelly.
Species: Purple-striped jellyfish, Chrysaora colorata
Image ID: 08971  

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, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23487  

Scalloped hammerhead shark.
Species: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini
Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16307  

Eureka Valley Dune Evening Primrose. A federally endangered plant, Oenothera californica eurekensis is a perennial herb that produces white flowers from April to June. These flowers turn red as they age. The Eureka Dunes evening-primrose is found only in the southern portion of Eureka Valley Sand Dunes system in Indigo County, California.
Species: Eureka valley dune evening primrose, Oenothera californica eurekensis, Oenothera deltoides
Location: Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 25237  

Spotted eagle rays.
Species: Spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16333  

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  

Palette surgeonfish.
Species: Palette surgeonfish, Paracanthurus hepatus
Image ID: 09834  

Spiny lobster in rocky crevice.
Species: Spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 09562  

Scribbled angelfish.
Species: Scribbled angelfish, Chaetodontoplus duboulayi
Image ID: 09451  

Green abalone, mantle and sight organs visible around edge of shell.
Species: Green abalone, Haliotis fulgens
Image ID: 09431  

Giant kelp, blades, stipes and pneumatocysts, backlit by the sun in shallow water.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 25401  

Topsmelt silverside.
Species: Topsmelt, Atherinops affinis
Image ID: 07876  

Del Mar Beach at Sunset, northern San Diego County.
Location: Del Mar, California
Image ID: 35067  

Pelagic siphonophore, one meter section.
Species: Pelagic siphonophore, Apolemia
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 03832  

Serval cat, melanistic variation, Meru National Park, Kenya.
Species: Serval cat, Leptailurus serval
Location: Meru National Park, Kenya
Image ID: 29691  

Southern sea palm, palm kelp, underwater, San Clemente Island.
Species: Southern sea palm, Eisenia arborea
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30917  

Ocean sunfish recruiting fish near drift kelp to clean parasites, open ocean, Baja California.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Image ID: 03267  

Humpback whale mother, calf (top), male escort (rear), underwater. A young humpback calf typically swims alongside or above its mother, and male escorts will usually travel behind the mother.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 02819  

West Indian manatee at Three Sisters Springs, Florida.
Species: West indian manatee, Trichechus manatus
Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida
Image ID: 02731  

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  

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: 33435