Male elephant seals (bulls) rear up on their foreflippers and fight for territory and harems of females. Bull elephant seals will haul out and fight from December through March, nearly fasting the entire time as they maintain their territory and harem. They bite and tear at each other on the neck and shoulders, drawing blood and creating scars on the tough hides. Sandy beach rookery, winter, Central California.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 35150
Carlsbad Coast Highway Sunset, Terramar and North Ponto to Oceanside with Camp Pendleton in the distance. San Onofre Mountain (1722'), one of the southern peaks in the Santa Ana Mountains, can just barely be seen in the distance.
Location: Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 35904
Mother and calf southern right whales underwater. The calf swims close to its mother but, if the mother is accepting, the calf will be allowed to come close to the photographer and check him out.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38308
Kelp fronds showing pneumatocysts, bouyant gas-filled bubble-like structures which float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface, where it will spread to form a roof-like canopy.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38517
Kelp fronds showing pneumatocysts, bouyant gas-filled bubble-like structures which float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface, where it will spread to form a roof-like canopy.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38518
California Sea Lion Nibbles the Dive Mask of an Underwater Photographer at the Coronado Islands, Mexico. Sea lions, especially young ones, are very inquisitive and will often test the gear that divers have the only way they can, by nibbling and rubbing it with their foreflippers.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39970
Young California Sea Lion Pup On the Cobblestone Patch, Looking at the Underwater Camera Taking Its Photograph, in the Coronado Islands, Baja, Mexico. Young sea lions will often play with the cobblestones seen here, lifting them into the water column before letting them sink back down, all the while keeping them just out of reach of the divers they are taunting.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39977
Mount Moran and Teton Range from Willow Flats, Grand Teton National Park.
Image ID: 32313
Panorama dimensions: 4654 x 17998
Aerial view of the lagoon inside Clipperton Island. The lagoon within the atoll was formerly open to the ocean but has been closed and stagnant for many decades. Some experts believe erosion will open the lagoon up to the ocean again soon. Clipperton Island, a minor territory of France also known as Ile de la Passion, is a spectacular coral atoll in the eastern Pacific. By permit HC / 1485 / CAB (France).
Location: Clipperton Island, France
Image ID: 32866
South Carlsbad State Beach and campground at sunset, sea cliffs and bluffs. Coast Highway to the left, Ponto Beach and Encinitas/Leucadia to the right.
Location: Carlsbad, California
Image ID: 37710
Panorama dimensions: 5467 x 16208
Pacific harbor seal mother nuzzling her newborn pup, at the edge of the ocean at the Children's Pool in La Jolla. Mothers will nuzzle and touch their young pups frequently to solidify their bond.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39049
Pacific Harbor Seal Pup About Two Weeks Old, hauled out on a white sand beach along the coast of San Diego. This young seal will be weaned off its mothers milk and care when it is about four to six weeks old, and before that time it must learn how to forage for food on its own, a very difficult time for a young seal.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39072
A young Pacific Harbor Seal pup nursing. Mother harbor seals will only nurse their pups for about four to six weeks, at which point the small seal is weaned and must begin to forage and fend for itself. That short period of time is crucial for the young seal to learn how to hunt, socialize and swim.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39081
Pacific Harbor Seal Pup About Two Weeks Old, hauled out on a white sand beach along the coast of San Diego. This young seal will be weaned off its mothers milk and care when it is about four to six weeks old, and before that time it must learn how to forage for food on its own, a very difficult time for a young seal.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39084
Pacific Harbor Seal Pup About Two Weeks Old, hauled out on a white sand beach along the coast of San Diego. This young seal will be weaned off its mothers milk and care when it is about four to six weeks old, and before that time it must learn how to forage for food on its own, a very difficult time for a young seal.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39085
Pacific Harbor Seal Pup About Two Weeks Old, hauled out on a white sand beach along the coast of San Diego. This young seal will be weaned off its mothers milk and care when it is about four to six weeks old, and before that time it must learn how to forage for food on its own, a very difficult time for a young seal.
Species: Pacific harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 39115
Peregrine Falcon mated pair perform midair food exchange. The male forages for prey and returns to the nest, exchanging the prey in mid air with the female who in turn will feed the young at the nest, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
Species: Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California
Image ID: 39315