Red gorgonian 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: Red gorgonian, California golden gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38499
Aspens show fall colors in Mineral King Valley, part of Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, California.
Location: Mineral King, Sequoia National Park, California
Image ID: 32298
Whale hair on the rostrum and chin of a southern right whale, sidelit by the setting sun. These individual hairs provide sensor information to the whale as it swims through ocean currents or touches the ocean bottom.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38331
Sunset at San Clemente Island, south end showing Pyramid Head. Panoramic photo.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38500
Panorama dimensions: 4489 x 35871
Courting group of southern right whales, aerial photo. Mating may occur as a result of this courting and social behavior. The white whale seen here is a serious player named El Copulador (the copulator) and is often seen in mating and courting groups of southern right whales at Peninsula Valdes. His light coloration is an indication that he was a white calf, but he did not darken as he aged in the way most white southern right whale calves do.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38357
Carlsbad Coast at Sunset, Terramar and the Oceanside Pier, with Camp Pendleton and the San Onofre power plant in the distance on this incredibly clean and crisp evening view. Rising in the distance is San Onofre Mountain (1722') topped by a tall signal tower, one of the southern peaks in the Santa Ana Mountains.
Location: Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 37482
Panorama dimensions: 1106 x 3500