Natural History Photo of the Day

January 11, 2026
A huge blue whale swims through the open ocean in this underwater photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.

A huge blue whale swims through the open ocean in this underwater photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.

Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: San Diego, California
Created: 2018-07-04
Image ID: 34565

Previous 10 Natural History Photo of the Day entries

January 10, 2026: California sea lion bodysurfing in La Jolla
January 9, 2026: Black oaks in autumn in Yosemite National Park, fall colors, Quercus kelloggii
January 8, 2026: Horseshoe Bend Sunrise, Colorado River, Page, Arizona
January 7, 2026: Male lion, not yet full grown, Masai Mara, Kenya
January 6, 2026: Southern right whale underwater, Eubalaena australis, Argentina
January 5, 2026: Sunlight streams through giant kelp forest. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky reef to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
January 4, 2026: California poppies cover the hillsides in bright orange
January 3, 2026: Cardinalfish, Fiji
January 2, 2026: Two Rushing Western Grebes Walk on Water. Grebe rushing, a courtship behavior, happens when the birds slap the lake surface up to 20 times per second, literally running across the water.
January 1, 2026: Red Irish Lord sculpinfish, Browning Pass, British Columbia