Canyon X, a spectacular slot canyon near Page, Arizona. Slot canyons are formed when water and wind erode a cut through a (usually sandstone) mesa, producing a very narrow passage that may be as slim as a few feet and a hundred feet or more in height.
Location: Page, Arizona
Image ID: 36009
Owl Canyon, a beautiful slot canyon that is part of the larger Antelope Canyon system. Page, Arizona.
Location: Navajo Tribal Lands, Page, Arizona
Image ID: 36030
The corallimorph Corynactis californica, similar to both stony corals and anemones, is typified by a wide oral disk and short tentacles that radiate from the mouth. The tentacles grasp food passing by in ocean currents.
Species: Strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 37203
The corallimorph Corynactis californica, similar to both stony corals and anemones, is typified by a wide oral disk and short tentacles that radiate from the mouth. The tentacles grasp food passing by in ocean currents.
Species: Strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 37209
The corallimorph Corynactis californica, similar to both stony corals and anemones, is typified by a wide oral disk and short tentacles that radiate from the mouth. The tentacles grasp food passing by in ocean currents.
Species: Strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 37210
The corallimorph Corynactis californica, similar to both stony corals and anemones, is typified by a wide oral disk and short tentacles that radiate from the mouth. The tentacles grasp food passing by in ocean currents.
Species: Strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 37213
Belt of Venus and Earth Shadow at Dawn. The Belt of Venus is actually alpenglow visible near the horizon during twilight, above the antisolar point. Like alpenglow, the backscatter of reddened sunlight also creates the Belt of Venus. Unlike alpenglow, the sunlight scattered by fine particulates that cause the rosy arch of the Belt shines high in the atmosphere and lasts for a while after sunset or before sunrise.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37476
White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38276
White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38277
White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38278
Courting pair of southern right whales underwater, Eubalaena australis. While the posture in this photo isn't quite mating, it is a courting behavior that often precedes mating. The male is below, upside down and trying to access the female belly-to-belly. However, the female does not want to mate, so she has positioned herself upside down at the surface so that the males in the courting group cannot reach her genital slit.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38345
Garibaldi and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef, San Clemente Island. 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, Giant kelp, Muricea californica, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38501
Garibaldi and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef, San Clemente Island. 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, Giant kelp, Muricea californica, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38504
Garibaldi and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef, San Clemente Island. 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, Giant kelp, Muricea californica, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38509
Garibaldi and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef, San Clemente Island. 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, Giant kelp, Garibaldi, Muricea californica, Macrocystis pyrifera, Hypsypops rubicundus
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38510
Huge California Sea Lion Male Underwater, a bull, patrolling his breeding harem and territory, Coronado Islands, Mexico. His sagittal crest, the bony bump on his head that distinguishes adult male sea lions, is clearly seen. This particular sea lion bears an orange tag on his left foreflipper, probably as a result of rescue and release as a young sea lion years earlier.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 38653
House on Fire Ruin in Mule Canyon, Utah. Part of the Bears Ears National Monument, House on Fire Ruin is an ancestral Puebloan ruin that appears to burst into flames when reflected sunlight hits the ceiling above the ruin.
Location: Bears Ears National Monument, Utah
Image ID: 39373
Giant Black Sea Bass with Distinctive Identifying Black Spots that allow researchers to carry out sight/resight studies on the animals distributions and growth. Black sea bass can reach 500 pounds and 8 feet in length.
Species: Giant black sea bass, Stereolepis gigas
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 39437
Adult Male California Sea Lion with Several Young Pups, Mexico. This male sea lion is not yet large and mature enough to form his own harem so he swims at the underwater periphery of the territories of the more established males to see what females he can approach without being challenged and chased off by a bigger male.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39957
Female California Sea Lion with Severe Fishing Line Entanglement Injury, in the Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico. The line is buried in the sea lion's tissue so far that is difficult to see. It is possible this synthetic line will continue to cut into the skin of this sea lion until it succumbs to infection or blood loss. I have never seen any marine mammal rescue teams at the Coronado islands and suspect this poor animal will not live long.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39959
Milky Way over Sandstone Fins. Sandstone fins stand on edge. Vertical fractures separate standing plates of sandstone that are eroded into freestanding fins, that may one day further erode into arches.
Location: Arches National Park, Utah
Image ID: 29254
Wreck of the Nasi Yalo Dina, Fiji. The Nasi Yalodina was a Fijian medical ship that sunk after striking the reef here in 2001.
Location: Fiji
Image ID: 31342