A freediving spearfisherman glides quietly through the kelp forest in search of game fish to hunt. The most skilled spearfishermen forego the use of SCUBA, which is noisy underwater and scares away fish. Instead, they practice breathhold techniques to move silently through the water. San Clemente Island.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 10235
A garibaldi fish (orange), surf grass (green) and palm kelp (brown) on the rocky reef -- all appearing blurred in this time exposure -- are tossed back and forth by powerful ocean waves passing by above. San Clemente Island.
Species: Surfgrass, Hypsypops rubicundus, Phyllospadix
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 10238
San Clemente Island aerial photo, Pyramid Head and Balanced Rock at the southern end of the island. San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island, exhibits distinctive geologic terracing, underwater reefs and giant kelp forests.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38484
Panorama dimensions: 5158 x 9854
San Clemente Island aerial photo, Pyramid Head and Balanced Rock at the southern end of the island. San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island, exhibits distinctive geologic terracing, underwater reefs and giant kelp forests.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38488
The Chateau at Oregon Caves National Monument. Considered one of the National Park System's classic Great Lodges, and a National Historic Landmark, the Chateau was completed in 1934. The Chateau is a six-story structure with a reinforced concrete foundation and a superstructure of wood frame construction with enormous post and beam interior supports. The building spans a small gorge and a great deal of the building's mass is banked into that depression. Exterior walls are shiplap siding sheathed with cedar bark, giving the building a shaggy, rustic appearance.
Location: Oregon Caves National Monument
Image ID: 25860
The Second Wave at sunset. 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: 28615
A California brown pelican entangled in a plastic bag which is wrapped around its neck. This unfortunate pelican probably became entangled in the bag by mistaking the floating plastic for food and diving on it, spearing it in such a way that the bag has lodged around the pelican's neck. Plastic bags kill and injure untold numbers of marine animals each year.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 22564
Pyrosome drifting through a kelp forest, Catalina Island. Pyrosomes are free-floating colonial tunicates that usually live in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas. Pyrosomes are cylindrical or cone-shaped colonies made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals, known as zooids.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37163
San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 29354
San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 29355
San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 29356
A fog bow, sometimes called a white rainbow, is a similar phenomenon to a rainbow; however, as its name suggests, it appears as a bow in fog rather than rain.
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 38578
Brown pelican flying while entangled in plastic bag wrapped around its neck. I believe the pelican probably became entangled in the bag by mistaking the floating plastic for food and diving on it, spearing it in such a way that the bag has lodged around the pelican's neck.
Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis californicus, Pelecanus occidentalis
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40106