Natural History Photo of the Day

April 7, 2026
Barrel cactus, brittlebush and wildflowers color the sides of Glorietta Canyon. Heavy winter rains led to a historic springtime bloom in 2005, carpeting the entire desert in vegetation and color for months.

Barrel cactus, brittlebush and wildflowers color the sides of Glorietta Canyon. Heavy winter rains led to a historic springtime bloom in 2005, carpeting the entire desert in vegetation and color for months.

Species: Red barrel cactus, Encelia farinosa, Ferocactus cylindraceus
Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, California
Created: 2005-03-14
Image ID: 10899

Previous 96 Natural History Photo of the Day entries

April 6, 2026: Western gull, flying.
April 5, 2026: Tiger shark and underwater photographer
April 4, 2026: Aerial photo of Batiquitos Lagoon, Carlsbad. The Batiquitos Lagoon is a coastal wetland in southern Carlsbad, California. Part of the lagoon is designated as the Batiquitos Lagoon State Marine Conservation Area, run by the California Department of Fish and Game as a nature reserve
April 3, 2026: Male and female southern right whales mating underwater, Eubalaena australis. The male positions himself below the female and turns upside down, so the two whales are belly-to-belly and can mate. Sand has been stirred up by the courtship activities and the water is turbid.
April 2, 2026: Peregrine Falcon in flight, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
April 1, 2026: A California Brown Pelican flying over the Pacific Ocean, spreads its large wings wide to slow down as it banks, turns in midair, to land on seacliffs in La Jolla. Winter adult non-breeding plumage.
March 31, 2026: Spiny brittle stars (starfish) detail.
March 30, 2026: San Diego City Skyline at Sunset, viewed from Point Loma, panoramic photograph. The mountains east of San Diego can be clearly seen when the air is cold, dry and clear as it is in this photo. Lyons Peak is in center and the flanks of Mount San Miguel to the right.
March 29, 2026: California Brown Pelican flying over a breaking wave
March 28, 2026: Castle Geyser erupts, reaching 60 to 90 feet in height and lasting 20 minutes. While Castle Geyser has a 12 foot sinter cone that took 5,000 to 15,000 years to form, it is in fact situated atop geyserite terraces that themselves may have taken 200,000 years to form, making it likely the oldest active geyser in the park. Upper Geyser Basin.
March 27, 2026: Colorful Chironephthya soft coral colonies in Fiji, hanging off wall, resembling sea fans or gorgonians.
March 26, 2026: SCUBA Diver and Steller Sea Lions Underwater, underwater photographer, Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada
March 25, 2026: Coastal brown bear cub, one and a half years old, near Johnson River. This cub will remain with its mother for about another six months, and will be on its own next year.
March 24, 2026: California Golden gorgonian in kelp forest.
March 23, 2026: Brown pelican soaring in flight with wings fully outstretched. The wingspan of the brown pelican is over 7 feet wide. The California race of the brown pelican holds endangered species status.
March 22, 2026: Garibaldi fish on kelp forest reef, underwater.
March 21, 2026: Steller sea lion underwater, Norris Rocks, Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada
March 20, 2026: Blue shark underwater in the open ocean
March 19, 2026: Leather coral, Sinularia sp., Fiji
March 18, 2026: White pelican flying over Lake Hodges, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
March 17, 2026: California sea lion, La Jolla
March 16, 2026: A giant black sea bass is an endangered species that can reach up to 8 feet in length and 500 pounds, often found amid the giant kelp forest, Once nearly fished to extinction and now thought to be at risk of a genetic bottleneck, the giant sea bass is slowly recovering and can be seen in summer months in California's kelp forests.
March 15, 2026: Lion female, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
March 14, 2026: Juvenile California Brown Pelican Flying over the Ocean, early morning light just after sunrise.
March 13, 2026: Waves break on the coral reef and wash ashore at Clipperton Island, aerial photo. 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)
March 12, 2026: Vogelsang Peak (11516') at sunset, reflected in a small creek near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in Yosemite's high country.
March 11, 2026: Mesa Arch spans 90 feet and stands at the edge of a mesa precipice thousands of feet above the Colorado River gorge. For a few moments at sunrise the underside of the arch glows dramatically red and orange.
March 10, 2026: Snow geese fly in huge numbers at sunrise. Thousands of wintering snow geese take to the sky in predawn light in Bosque del Apache's famous "blast off". The flock can be as large as 20,000 geese or more.
March 9, 2026: San Diego downtown skyline, viewed from Point Loma.
March 8, 2026: A kelp forest. Giant kelp grows rapidly, up to 2' per day, from the rocky reef on the ocean bottom to which it is anchored, toward the ocean surface where it spreads to form a thick canopy. Myriad species of fishes, mammals and invertebrates form a rich community in the kelp forest. Lush forests of kelp are found through California's Southern Channel Islands.
March 7, 2026: Unidentified gull in flight, La Jolla
March 6, 2026: Pacific torpedo ray Tetronarce californica, amidst huge schools of fish and baitfish, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island. This electric ray will shock the hell out of you if you are not careful.
March 5, 2026: Black Oaks below El Capitan, Quercus kelloggii, El Capitan meadow, Yosemite Valley
March 4, 2026: Clown Nudibranch, Triopha catalinae, Browning Passage, Vancouver Island
March 3, 2026: Mesquite Dunes sunrise, dawn, clouds and morning sky, sand dunes.
March 2, 2026: Brilliantlly colorful coral reef, with swarms of anthias fishes and soft corals, Fiji
March 1, 2026: American White Pelican in Flight, breeding adult with fibrous plate on upper mandible of bill, Lake Wohlford
February 28, 2026: Early Snow and Late Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Colors, Asheville, North Carolina
February 27, 2026: Rostrum and callosities of southern right whale, Eubalaena australis. Whale lice can be seen attached to the collosities, which are patches of thickened keratinized tissue, like calluses (thus the name). The pattern of callosities on a right whale are unique and serve as a way to identify individuals throughout their lifetime.
February 26, 2026: Humpback whales surface together during coordinated bubble-net feeding in Southeast Alaska. The whales use bubbles, sound, and movement to corral fish before capturing them in their open mouths.
February 25, 2026: San Diego City Skyline at Sunset, viewed from Point Loma, panoramic photograph. The mountains east of San Diego can be clearly seen when the air is cold, dry and clear as it is in this photo. Lyons Peak is in center and Mount San Miguel to the right.
February 24, 2026: California Brown Pelican In Flight, La Jolla California
February 23, 2026: Sea gull carries trash, a piece of aluminum foil
February 22, 2026: Photographing down the throat of a tiger shark with a Gopro on a selfie-stick
February 21, 2026: Favia maxima, a species of stony reef-building coral, Fiji
February 20, 2026: Anthias fishes school in strong currents above hard and soft corals on a Fijian coral reef, Fiji
February 19, 2026: 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.
February 18, 2026: Plexauridae sea fan or gorgonian on coral reef. This gorgonian is a type of colonial alcyonacea soft coral that filters plankton from passing ocean currents
February 17, 2026: Ponto, South Carlsbad, morning surf.
February 16, 2026: Wildflowers bloom across Carrizo Plains National Monument, during the 2017 Superbloom
February 15, 2026: Portrait of an adult Southern Right Whale Underwater, Eubalaena australis, hovering over sand bottom on Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdes. By permission of the Government of Argentina, Chubut, permit # 51 / 2025-SsCyA.
February 14, 2026: A humpback whale raises it fluke out of the water, the coast of Del Mar and La Jolla is visible in the distance.
February 13, 2026: Calico Bass. Kelp Bass, Paralabrax clathratus, Catalina Island
February 12, 2026: A young California sea lion pup hovers upside down, looking down curiously at the photographer below it, in the shallows of the sea lion colony at the Coronado Islands, Mexico
February 11, 2026: Western Grebes rushing across Lake Wohlford, exhibiting a spectacular courtship behavior in which the aquatic birds literally run across the surface of the water while their feet hit the water up to 20 times per second.
February 10, 2026: Broken Hill in soft pre-dawn light, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Torrey Pines State Reserve. La Jolla and Mount Soledad in the distance.
February 9, 2026: Steller sea lion underwater, Norris Rocks, Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada
February 8, 2026: Sheephead wrasse, Garibaldi and golden gorgonian, with a underwater forest of giant kelp rising in the background, underwater.
February 7, 2026: Adams River sockeye salmon. A female sockeye salmon swims upstream in the Adams River to spawn, having traveled hundreds of miles upstream from the ocean.
February 6, 2026: Winter Wildflowers Bloom in an Colorful Bouquet in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Dune evening primrose (white) is mixed with sand verbena (purple) near Henderson Canyon Road. Sunrise light barely illuminating the flowers.
February 5, 2026: Spectacularly colorful dendronephthya soft corals on South Pacific reef, reaching out into strong ocean currents to capture passing planktonic food, Fiji.
February 4, 2026: Gray Whale Courtship Group, Aerial Photo, San Diego. Courtship during the southern migration, far to the north of the Mexican lagoons of Baja California where most gray whale births take place.
February 3, 2026: Pristine tropical reef with black coral, schooling anthias fishes and colorful dendronephthya soft corals, pulsing with life in a strong current over a pristine coral reef. Fiji is known as the soft coral capitlal of the world.
February 2, 2026: Great egret, White Egret, Ardea alba, Florida
February 1, 2026: Green sea turtle, West Maui.
January 31, 2026: Jardin du Luxembourg. The Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens, is the second largest public park in Paris located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The park is the garden of the French Senate, which is itself housed in the Luxembourg Palace.
January 30, 2026: Enormous Porites lobata coral head, overturned by storm surge, Clipperton Island
January 29, 2026: California sea lion, thermoregulating.
January 28, 2026: California Brown Pelican flying over a breaking wave
January 27, 2026: Anthias fish school around green fan coral, Fiji
January 26, 2026: Lunar eclipse sequence. While the moon lies in the full shadow of the earth (umbra) it receives only faint, red-tinged light refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. As the moon passes into the penumbra it receives increasing amounts of direct sunlight, eventually leaving the shadow of the Earth altogether. October 8, 2014.
January 25, 2026: Steller sea lion underwater bubble display, Norris Rocks, Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada
January 24, 2026: Brown pelican flying over waves and the surf.
January 23, 2026: Sea otters mating. The male holds the female's head or nose with his jaws during copulation. Visible scars are often present on females from this behavior. Sea otters have a polygynous mating system. Many males actively defend territories and will mate with females that inhabit their territory or seek out females in estrus if no territory is established. Males and females typically bond for the duration of estrus, or about 3 days.
January 22, 2026: Fiji is the soft coral capital of the world, Seen here are beautifully colorful dendronephthya soft corals reaching out into strong ocean currents to capture passing planktonic food, Fiji.
January 21, 2026: Humpback whales surface together during coordinated bubble-net feeding in Southeast Alaska. The whales use bubbles, sound, and movement to corral fish before capturing them in their open mouths.
January 20, 2026: Fledgeling Peregrine Falcon in flight, juvenile, over the Pacific Ocean, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
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.
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 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