This Week's Most Frequently Viewed Images

Whale shark with remora.
Species: Whale shark, Remora, Rhincodon typus
Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 01504  

Splitnosed rockfish.
Species: Splitnosed rockfish, Sebastes diploproa
Image ID: 07892  

Squaretail coralgrouper (upper) and spotted coralgrouper (lower).
Species: Squaretail coralgrouper, Plectropomus areolatus, Plectropomus maculatus
Image ID: 08836  

Joshua Trees, a tree form of yucca inhabiting the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts.
Species: Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia
Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California
Image ID: 09158  

Two mature brown bears fight to establish hierarchy and fishing rights.
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 17036  

Male elk bugling during the fall rut. Large male elk are known as bulls. Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Male elk engage in competitive mating behaviors during the rut, including posturing, antler wrestling and bugling, a loud series of screams which is intended to establish dominance over other males and attract females.
Species: Elk, Cervus canadensis
Location: Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19693  

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: 20369  

The Second Wave at Sunset, North Coyote Buttes. The Second Wave, a curiously-shaped sandstone swirl, takes on rich warm tones and dramatic shadowed textures at sunset. Set in the North Coyote Buttes of Arizona and Utah, the Second Wave is characterized by striations revealing layers of sedimentary deposits, a visible historical record depicting eons of submarine geology.
Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona
Image ID: 20606  

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  

Butchart Gardens, a group of floral display gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, near Victoria on Vancouver Island. It is an internationally-known tourist attraction which receives more than a million visitors each year.
Location: Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Image ID: 21141  

Urey Hall, Revelle College, University of California San Diego, UCSD.
Image ID: 21214  

Sea otters mating. The male holds the female's head or nose with his jaws during copulation. Visible scars are often present on females from this behavior. Sea otters have a polygynous mating system. Many males actively defend territories and will mate with females that inhabit their territory or seek out females in estrus if no territory is established. Males and females typically bond for the duration of estrus, or about 3 days.
Species: Sea otter, Enhydra lutris
Location: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, California
Image ID: 21606  

Sarah's Cavern, a natural sea cave hidden below sea cliffs in Carlsbad, opening onto a flat beach at sunset, inner walls adorned with graffiti.
Location: Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 22196  

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: 22434  

Bald eagle eating a fish, standing on snow-covered ground, other bald eagles visible in background.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22605  

Steller sea lions (Northern sea lions) gather on rocks. Steller sea lions are the largest members of the Otariid (eared seal) family. Males can weigh up to 2400 lb., females up to 770 lb.
Species: Steller sea lion, Eumetopias jubatus
Location: Chiswell Islands, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 16977  

Crescent gunnels and a single high cockscomb at the bottom of the pile.
Species: Crescent gunnel, Anoplarchus purpurescens, Pholis laeta
Image ID: 16964  

Square-spot fairy basslet, male coloration.
Species: Square-spot fairy basslet, Pseudanthias pleurotaenia
Image ID: 12863  

Fin whale dorsal fin. The fin whale is named for its tall, falcate dorsal fin. Mariners often refer to them as finback whales. Coronado Islands, Mexico (northern Baja California, near San Diego).
Species: Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 12769  

Mountain lion.
Species: Mountain lion, Puma concolor
Image ID: 12279  

Sheep crab.
Species: Sheep crab, Loxorhynchus grandis
Image ID: 13997  

Aggregating anemones. Arrayed in a clonal group, all of these anemones are genetically identical. San Nicholas Island.
Species: Aggregating anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima
Location: San Nicholas Island, California
Image ID: 10150  

Diseased skin near the dorsal fin of an ocean sunfish, likely caused by parasites, open ocean.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 10007  

Egg-yolk jellyfish, fried egg jelly.
Species: Fried egg jellyfish, Phacellophora camtschatica
Image ID: 14033  

A great white shark swims through the clear waters of Isla Guadalupe, far offshore of the Pacific Coast of Baja California. Guadalupe Island is host to a concentration of large great white sharks, which visit the island to feed on pinnipeds and tuna.
Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 07666  

This bull elephant seal surveys his territory. He shows scarring on his chest and proboscis from fighting other males for territory and rights to a harem of females. Sandy beach rookery, winter, Central California.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 15391  

The General Lee, an enormous Sequoia tree.
Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum
Location: Giant Forest, Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California
Image ID: 09882  

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  

Brown booby (juvenile).
Species: Brown booby, Sula leucogaster
Location: Rose Atoll National Wildlife Sanctuary, American Samoa
Image ID: 00884  

Juvenile garibaldi in motion.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 02343