Photo of the Day, Natural History Photography

January 19, 2026

Bottlenose dolphins swim through red tide, hunt a school of fish, lit by glowing bioluminescence caused by microscopic Lingulodinium polyedrum dinoflagellate organisms which glow blue when agitated at night.

Species: Lingulodinium polyedrum
Location: La Jolla, California
Created: 2011-09-29
Image ID: 27066

Previous 18 Natural History Photo of the Day entries

January 18, 2026: Sperm whale underwater, Physeter macrocephalus. Sperm whales are found year-round in the abyssal trench alongside the island of Dominica since this is where they forage for deep-sea squid.

January 17, 2026: Bluestripe clownfish, Amphiprion chrysopterus, Fiji

January 16, 2026: Courting pair of southern right whales underwater, Eubalaena australis. In this image, the male is below and inverted (belly up) and the female is at the surface. While the posture in this photo isn't quite mating, it is a courting behavior that often precedes mating.

January 15, 2026: California sea lion, Coronados Islands, Baja California, Mexico

January 14, 2026: Stars at night over Hurst Island, Gods Pocket Resort

$January 13, 2026: Sunrise light touches the Fins. Sandstone fins stand on edge. Vertical fractures separate standing plates of sandstone that are eroded into freestanding fins, that may one day further erode into arches.$

January 12, 2026: Beautiful South Pacific coral reef, with gorgonian sea fans, schooling anthias fish and colorful dendronephthya soft corals, Fiji

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.

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 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