Icon photos

Breaking wave, fast motion and blur, The Wedge.
Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California
Image ID: 14355  

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.
Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona
Image ID: 20605  

Blue whale underwater closeup photo. This picture of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit earth, shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view. Since this blue whale was approximately 80-90' 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: 27299  

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.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 00140  

Half Dome and storm clouds at sunset, viewed from Sentinel Bridge.
Location: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 22744  

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  

Vernal Falls at peak flow in late spring, with a rainbow appearing in the spray of the falls, viewed from the Mist Trail.
Location: Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 12634  

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.
Location: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13319  

Extended High Mountain pose, Utthita Tadasana, sunrise on Mesa Arch, Utah. An exuberant hiker greets the dawning sun from atop Mesa Arch.
Location: Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Image ID: 18036  

Full grown, mature male coastal brown bear boar (grizzly bear) in sedge grass meadows.
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 19134  

A kelp forest, with sunbeams passing through kelp fronds. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky bottom to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 02411  

A Florida manatee, or West Indian Manatee, swims slowly through the clear waters of Crystal River.
Species: West indian manatee, Trichechus manatus
Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida
Image ID: 02696  

Scalloped hammerhead shark swims over a reef in the Galapagos Islands. The hammerheads eyes and other sensor organs are placed far apart on its wide head to give the shark greater ability to sense the location of prey.
Species: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16246  

A great white shark swims through the clear waters of Isla Guadalupe, far offshore of the Pacific Coast of Mexico's Baja California. Guadalupe Island is host to a concentration of large great white sharks, which visit the island to feed on pinnipeds and use it as a staging area before journeying farther into the Pacific ocean.
Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias
Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 19465  

Light Beam in Upper Antelope Slot Canyon. Thin shafts of light briefly penetrate the convoluted narrows of Upper Antelope Slot Canyon, sending piercing beams through the sandstone maze to the sand floor below.
Location: Navajo Tribal Lands, Page, Arizona
Image ID: 28570  

John Moulton barn at sunrise with Teton Range, on Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
Location: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 26965  

Hawaiian spinner dolphin, resting herd swimming along reef.
Species: Hawaiian spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris
Location: Lanai, Hawaii
Image ID: 00108  

Caribbean reef shark, ampullae of Lorenzini visible on snout.
Species: Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezi
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 10550  

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  

Sky Rock petroglyphs near Bishop, California, sunrise light just touching clouds and the Sierra Nevada. Hidden atop an enormous boulder in the Volcanic Tablelands lies Sky Rock, a set of petroglyphs that face the sky. These superb examples of native American petroglyph artwork are thought to be Paiute in origin, but little is known about them.
Location: Bishop, California
Image ID: 26979  

Bald eagle spreads its wings to land amid a large group of bald eagles.
Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis
Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Image ID: 22588  

Yosemite Falls and rainbow, Half Dome in distance, viewed from the Yosemite Falls trail, spring.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 27742  

Tiger shark.
Species: Tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier
Location: Bahamas
Image ID: 10648  

Mount Rainier reflected in Tipsoo Lake.
Location: Tipsoo Lakes, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Image ID: 28740  

Blue whale 80-feet long, full body photograph of an enormous blue whale showing rostrom head to fluke tail, taken at close range with very wide lens.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 27967  

Delicate Arch at Sunset, Arches National Park.
Location: Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
Image ID: 29283  

Stars and the Milky Way over ancient bristlecone pine trees, in the White Mountains at an elevation of 10,000' above sea level. These are the oldest trees in the world, some exceeding 4000 years in age.
Species: Bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
Location: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California
Image ID: 29406  

Rainbow and clearing storm clouds, sunrise light on Manly Beacon, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.
Location: Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 27660