Bull elephant seal exits the water to retake his position on the beach. He shows considerable scarring on his chest and proboscis from many winters 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: 15458
Torrey Pines seacliffs, rising up to 300 feet above the ocean, stretch from Del Mar to La Jolla. On the mesa atop the bluffs are found Torrey pine trees, one of the rare species of pines in the world.
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 22285
Yosemite Falls reflected in Flooded Sentinel Meadow, when the Merced River floods Yosemite Valley following a winter of historic snowfall in the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 39378
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
SIO Pier, Scripps Pier, La Jolla. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography research pier is 1090 feet long and was built of reinforced concrete in 1988, replacing the original wooden pier built in 1915. The Scripps Pier is home to a variety of sensing equipment above and below water that collects various oceanographic data. The Scripps research diving facility is located at the foot of the pier. Fresh seawater is pumped from the pier to the many tanks and facilities of SIO, including the Birch Aquarium. The Scripps Pier is named in honor of Ellen Browning Scripps, the most significant donor and benefactor of the Institution.
Location: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
Image ID: 22286
Hotel del Coronado, known affectionately as the Hotel Del. It was once the largest hotel in the world, and is one of the few remaining wooden Victorian beach resorts. It sits on the beach on Coronado Island, seen here with downtown San Diego in the distance. It is widely considered to be one of Americas most beautiful and classic hotels. Built in 1888, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 22287
Makena Beach State Park aerial photo, Maui, Hawaii. Big Beach on the right, Little Beach on the left, Haleakala rising in the distance on the right, West Maui Mountains in the distance on the left.
Location: Makena, Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 38214
Panorama dimensions: 5567 x 12626
Holiday Christmas Lights on Scripps Pier, Blacks Beach and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sunset, aerial.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39879
Newborn harbor seal pup watches a Western seagull approach. The gull is trying to pick at placenta on the sandy beach as the seal pup, born just moments before, watches and tries to understand what is going on. Within an hour of being born, this pup had learned to nurse and had entered the ocean for its first swim.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39076