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The Wave, an area of fantastic eroded sandstone featuring beautiful swirls, wild colors, countless striations, and bizarre shapes 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.
Image ID: 20605
Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA | North Pacific humpback whales, a mother and calf pair swim closely together just under the surface of the ocean. The calf will remain with its mother for about a year, migrating from Hawaii to Alaska to feed on herring.
Image ID: 00140
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii, USA | Humpback whale breaching, near Molokai, Hawaii. Megaptera novaeangliae. It is suspected the breaching often has a communicative purpose which depends on the behavioral context of the moment.
Image ID: 00205
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii, USA |
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Guadalupe fur seals, floating upside down underwater over a rocky reef covered with golden kelp at Guadalupe Island.
Image ID: 02113
Species: Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico | Half Dome and storm clouds at sunset, viewed from Sentinel Bridge.
Image ID: 22744
Location: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA | Guadalupe fur seal, floating upside down under the ocean's surface at Guadalupe Island, watching the photographer and looking for passing predators.
Image ID: 02114
Species: Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico |
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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.
Image ID: 20606
Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA | 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.
Image ID: 19693
Species: Elk, Cervus canadensis
Location: Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA | Cholla cactus, brittlebush, ocotillo and various cacti and wildflowers color the sides of Glorietta Canyon. Heavy winter rains led to a historic springtime bloom in 2005, carpeting the entire desert in vegetation and color for months.
Image ID: 10975
Species: Opuntia, Encelia farinosa, Fouquieria splendens
Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, California, USA |
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Waterfall at Temple of Sinawava during peak flow following spring rainstorm. Zion Canyon.
Image ID: 12450
Location: Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park, Utah, USA | Vernal Falls at peak flow in late spring, with a rainbow appearing in the spray of the falls, viewed from the Mist Trail.
Image ID: 12634
Location: Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA | Bull elk spar to establish harems of females, Gibbon Meadow.
Image ID: 13151
Species: Elk, Cervus canadensis
Location: Gibbon Meadows, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA |
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A rainbow appears in the mist of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. At 308 feet, the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River is the tallest fall in the park. This view is from Lookout Point on the North side of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. When conditions are perfect in midsummer, a midmorning rainbow briefly appears in the falls.
Image ID: 13319
Location: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA | Grand Prismatic Spring (left) and Excelsior Geyser (right). Grand Prismatic Spring displays a stunning rainbow of colors created by species of thermophilac (heat-loving) bacteria that thrive in narrow temperature ranges. The blue water in the center is too hot to support any bacterial life, while the outer orange rings are the coolest water. Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest spring in the United States and the third-largest in the world. Midway Geyser Basin.
Image ID: 13571
Location: Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA | Alaskan brown bear catching a jumping salmon, Brooks Falls.
Image ID: 17031
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA |
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A large, old brown bear (grizzly bear) wades across Brooks River. Coastal and near-coastal brown bears in Alaska can live to 25 years of age, weigh up to 1400 lbs and stand over 9 feet tall.
Image ID: 17039
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA | Mesa Arch, Utah. An exuberant hiker greets the dawning sun from atop Mesa Arch. Yup, that's me.
Image ID: 18036
Location: Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA | Full grown, mature male coastal brown bear boar (grizzly bear) in sedge grass meadows.
Image ID: 19134
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, USA |
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A great white shark opens it mouth just before it attacks its prey with a crippling, powerful bite. After the prey has been disabled, the shark will often wait for it to weaken from blood loss before resuming the attack. If the shark looses a tooth in the course of the bite, a replacement just behind it will move forward to take its place.
Image ID: 19452
Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico | Mule deer in tall grass, fall, autumn.
Image ID: 19577
Species: Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus
Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA | A whale shark swims through the open ocean in the Galapagos Islands. The whale shark is the largest shark on Earth, but is harmless eating plankton and small fish.
Image ID: 01520
Species: Whale shark, Rhincodon typus
Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador |
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Horsetail Falls backlit by the setting sun as it cascades down the face of El Capitan, February, Yosemite Valley.
Image ID: 07048
Location: Horsetail Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA | A great white shark swims through the clear waters of Isla Guadalupe, far offshore of the Pacific Coast of Baja California. Guadalupe Island is host to a concentration of large great white sharks, which visit the island to feed on pinnipeds and tuna.
Image ID: 07666
Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico | Portrait of a young brown bear, pausing while grazing in tall sedge grass. Brown bears can consume 30 lbs of sedge grass daily, waiting weeks until spawning salmon fill the rivers.
Image ID: 19135
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, USA |
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Yosemite Falls at peak flow in late spring, viewed from Cooks Meadow.
Image ID: 12631
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA | Venus comb murex. Scientists speculate that the distinctively long and narrow spines are a protection against fish and other mollusks and prevent the mollusk from sinking into the soft, sandy mud where it is commonly found.
Image ID: 12970
Species: Venus comb murex, Murex pecten | Paradise Falls tumble over rocks in Paradise Creek.
Image ID: 13867
Location: Paradise Creek, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA |
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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.
Image ID: 15577
Location: Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA | Hiker in North Window, sunset, western face. North Window is a natural sandstone arch 90 feet wide and 48 feet high.
Image ID: 18159
Location: North Window, Arches National Park, Utah, USA | Galapagos shark swims over a reef in the Galapagos Islands, with schooling fish in the distance.
Image ID: 16240
Species: Galapagos shark, Carcharhinus galapagensis
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador |
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