World Heritage Sites photos

Vogelsang Peak (11516') at sunset, reflected in a small creek near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in Yosemite's high country.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23202  

Magnificent frigatebird, adult female on nest.
Species: Magnificent frigatebird, Fregata magnificens
Location: North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16726  

Hammerhead sharks, schooling over sand, Darwin Island, Galapagos.
Species: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini
Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16255  

Milky Way over Tioga Lake, Yosemite National Park.
Location: Tioga Lake, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 28521  

El Capitan and clouds lit by full moon, stars, evening.
Location: El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 28695  

Nazca booby in flight.
Species: Nazca booby, Sula granti
Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 16681  

Upper Yosemite Falls and lunar rainbow, moonbow. A lunar rainbow (moonbow) can be seen to the left of Yosemite Falls, where the moon illuminates the spray of the falls.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 27751  

Yosemite Falls and tall pine trees, viewed from Cook's Meadow.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 22746  

Hiker views Vogelsang Lake, and Vogelsang Peak (11516') at sunrise in Yosemite's High Sierra.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23201  

Giant redwood, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park. The coastal redwood, or simply 'redwood', is the tallest tree on Earth, reaching a height of 379' and living 3500 years or more. It is native to coastal California and the southwestern corner of Oregon within the United States, but most concentrated in Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California, found close to the coast where moisture and soil conditions can support its unique size and growth requirements.
Species: California redwood, Coast redwood, Giant redwood, Sequoia sempervirens
Location: Redwood National Park, California
Image ID: 25795  

Bridalveil Falls at sunset, with clouds and blue sky in the background. Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite drops 620 feet (188 m) from a hanging valley to the floor of Yosemite Valley.
Location: Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 12646  

The bisons massive head is its most characteristic feature. Its forehead bulges because of its convex-shaped frontal bone. Its shoulder hump, dwindling bowlike to the haunches, is supported by unusually long spinal vertebrae. Over powerful neck and shoulder muscles grows a great shaggy coat of curly brown fur, and over the head, like an immense hood, grows a shock of black hair. Its forequarters are higher and much heavier than its haunches. A mature bull stands about 6 1/2 feet (2 meters) at the shoulder and weighs more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). The bisons horns are short and black. In the male they are thick at the base and taper abruptly to sharp points as they curve outward and upward; the females horns are more slender.
Species: American bison, Bison bison
Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13120  

Fly fishing below Gibbon Falls. This flyfisherman hiked up the Gibbon River to reach the foot of Gibbon Falls.
Location: Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13269  

A rainbow appears in the spray of Riverside Geyser as it erupts over the Firehole River. Riverside is a very predictable geyser. Its eruptions last 30 minutes, reach heights of 75 feet and are usually spaced about 6 hours apart. Upper Geyser Basin.
Location: Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13367  

Upper Yosemite Falls near peak flow in spring. Yosemite Falls, at 2425 feet tall (730m) is the tallest waterfall in North America and fifth tallest in the world. Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16066  

Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below.
Location: Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16114  

Yosemite Falls is reflected in a springtime pool in flooded Cooks Meadow, Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16135  

Yosemite Falls rises above the Merced River, viewed from the Swinging Bridge. The 2425 falls is the tallest in North America. Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16143  

Bridalveil Falls with a rainbow forming in its spray, dropping 620 into Yosemite Valley, displaying peak water flow in spring months from deep snowpack and warm weather melt. Yosemite Valley.
Location: Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16160  

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: Madison River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19697  

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: 19698  

Elk, bull elk, adult male elk with large set of antlers. By September, this bull elk's antlers have reached their full size and the velvet has fallen off. This bull elk has sparred with other bulls for access to herds of females in estrous and ready to mate.
Species: Elk, Cervus canadensis
Location: Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19721  

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park in autumn, fall, walking through brown grasses.
Species: Grizzly bear, Ursus arctos horribilis
Location: Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19614  

A male moose, bull moose, on snow covered field, near Cooke City.
Species: Moose, Alces alces
Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19680  

Galapagos sea lion playing with puffer fish.
Species: Galapagos sea lion, Zalophus californianus wollebacki, Zalophus californianus wollebaeki
Location: Cousins, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Image ID: 02252  

Gray whales, two males both with extended penis during courtship socialization, Laguna San Ignacio.
Species: Gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus
Location: San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 06431  

El Capitan and Merced River, Yosemite Valley.
Location: El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 05413  

Roosevelt elk, adult bull male with large antlers. This bull elk has recently shed the velvet that covers its antlers. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone; once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler, which is itself shed after each mating season. Roosevelt elk grow to 10' and 1300 lb, eating grasses, sedges and various berries, inhabiting the coastal rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.
Species: Roosevelt elk, Cervus canadensis roosevelti
Location: Redwood National Park, California
Image ID: 25890  

Half Dome at Sunset, Yosemite National Park.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 34545