San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island. San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, showing geologic terracing, underwater reefs and giant kelp forests.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 26003
Blue whales feeding on krill underwater closeup photo. A picture of a blue whale with its throat pleats inflated with a mouthful of krill. A calf swims behind and below the adult. Over 80' long and just a few feet from the camera, an extremely wide lens was used to photograph the entire enormous whale.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: California
Image ID: 27314
Blue whale 80-feet long, full body photograph of an enormous blue whale showing rostrom head to fluke tail, taken at close range with very wide lens.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 27967
Anthias fishes school in strong currents over a Fijian coral reef, with various hard and soft corals, sea fans and anemones on display. Fiji.
Species: Anthias, Pseudanthias
Location: Fiji
Image ID: 34741
North Peak (12,242') rises over lower Conness Lake, its water colored deep blue-green by glacier runoff. Mount Conness (12,589') towers in the upper left. Hoover Wilderness, Inyo National Forest.
Location: Conness Lakes Basin, Hoover Wilderness, California
Image ID: 36427
Panorama dimensions: 7008 x 15585
Mother and calf southern right whales underwater. The calf swims close to its mother but, if the mother is accepting, the calf will be allowed to come close to the photographer and check him out.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38313
Parasitic zoanthid anemones cover, encrust and overwhelm a golden gorgonian. The gorgonian on the left has been completely parasitized by zoanthid anemones, while the gorgonian to the right remains free of zoanthids (for now). A garibaldi swims below the two sea fans. The golden gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: California golden gorgonian, Luminescent parazoanthid, Zoanthid anemone, Giant kelp, Muricea californica, Parazoanthus lucificum, Savalia lucifica, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38493
The Kelp Forest and Rocky Reef of San Clemente Island. 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: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38494