Brown pelican in flight against pastel-colored sky at sunrise. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status. In winter months, breeding adults assume a dramatic plumage.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 15122
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
Tiny hikers atop Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, California. Near Stovepipe Wells lies a region of sand dunes, some of them hundreds of feet tall.
Location: Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 15577
The Wave at Night, under a clear night sky full of stars. Photographer is illuminating the striated rocks with a small handheld light. The Wave, an area of fantastic eroded sandstone featuring beautiful swirls, wild colors, countless striations, and bizarre shapes is set amidst the dramatic surrounding North Coyote Buttes of Arizona and Utah. The sandstone formations of the North Coyote Buttes, including the Wave, date from the Jurassic period. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Wave is located in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness and is accessible on foot by permit only.
Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona
Image ID: 28620
The Tree of Eons, a spectacular dendritic formation in the Bentonite Hills of Utah. Fantastic colorful sedimentary patterns, ancient Bentonite layers are exposed through erosion in the Utah Badlands. The Bentonite Hills are composed of the Brushy Basin shale member of the Morrison Formation. This layer was formed during Jurassic times when mud, silt, fine sand, and volcanic ash were deposited in swamps and lakes. Photographed just before sunrise with soft pre-dawn illumination. Aerial panoramic photograph.
Location: Utah
Image ID: 37951
Panorama dimensions: 11000 x 15000
San Diego Bay and Skyline at sunset, viewed from Point Loma, panoramic photograph.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 30210
Owachomo Bridge and Milky Way. Owachomo Bridge, a natural stone bridge standing 106' high and spanning 130' wide,stretches across a canyon with the Milky Way crossing the night sky.
Location: Owachomo Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
Image ID: 28541
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: 35908
Ancient Douglas fir trees in Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is home to huge, ancient, old-growth Douglas fir trees. About 300 years ago a fire killed most of the trees in this grove, but a small number of trees survived and were the originators of what is now Cathedral Grove. Western redcedar trees grow in adundance in the understory below the taller Douglas fir trees.
Species: Douglas fir tree, Pseudotsuga menziesii
Location: Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Image ID: 22456
Panorama dimensions: 9702 x 3043
The bright orange garibaldi fish, California's state marine fish, is also clownlike in appearance.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus
Location: California
Image ID: 02416
Milky Way and stars over Crater Lake at night. Panorama of Crater Lake and Wizard Island at night, Crater Lake National Park.
Location: Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Image ID: 28641
Panorama dimensions: 7650 x 13389
Full Moon Rises over the San Diego City Skyline and Mount Laguna, viewed from Point Loma, panoramic photograph.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 36634
Panorama dimensions: 5276 x 16167
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
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