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
Black bear walking in a grassy meadow. Black bears can live 25 years or more, and range in color from deepest black to chocolate and cinnamon brown. Adult males typically weigh up to 600 pounds. Adult females weight up to 400 pounds and reach sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age. Adults stand about 3' tall at the shoulder.
Species: American black bear, Ursus americanus
Location: Orr, Minnesota
Image ID: 18741
Black bear walking in a grassy meadow. Black bears can live 25 years or more, and range in color from deepest black to chocolate and cinnamon brown. Adult males typically weigh up to 600 pounds. Adult females weight up to 400 pounds and reach sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age. Adults stand about 3' tall at the shoulder.
Species: American black bear, Ursus americanus
Location: Orr, Minnesota
Image ID: 18743
Black bear walking in a grassy meadow. Black bears can live 25 years or more, and range in color from deepest black to chocolate and cinnamon brown. Adult males typically weigh up to 600 pounds. Adult females weight up to 400 pounds and reach sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age. Adults stand about 3' tall at the shoulder.
Species: American black bear, Ursus americanus
Location: Orr, Minnesota
Image ID: 18748
Black bear walking in a grassy meadow. Black bears can live 25 years or more, and range in color from deepest black to chocolate and cinnamon brown. Adult males typically weigh up to 600 pounds. Adult females weight up to 400 pounds and reach sexual maturity at 3 or 4 years of age. Adults stand about 3' tall at the shoulder.
Species: American black bear, Ursus americanus
Location: Orr, Minnesota
Image ID: 18749
Brown bear female sow in sedge meadow, with her three spring cubs hidden by the deep grass next to her. These cubs were born earlier in the spring and will remain with their mother for almost two years, relying on her completely for their survival.
Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctos
Location: Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
Image ID: 19154
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
North Pacific humpback whale showing extensive scarring, almost certainly from a boat propeller, on dorsal ridge. This female North Pacific humpback whale was first seen with the depicted lacerations near the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands in the mid-90s, and is the original humpback to bear the name 'Blade Runner'. This female has apparently recovered, as evidenced the calf she was observed nurturing. A South Pacific humpback whale endured a similar injury in Sydney Australia in 2001, and bears a remarkably similar scar pattern to the above-pictured whale.
Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 05909
A beautiful golden-brown female California Sea Lion at the Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico. The huge male bull that formed the harem of which she was a part allowed her to hang out with me for a while, even while he continued patrolling just over my head.
Species: California Sea Lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 37318
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.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38295
Male elephant seals (bulls) rear up on their foreflippers and fight in the surf for access for mating females that are in estrous. Such fighting among elephant seals can take place on the beach or in the water. They bite and tear at each other on the neck and shoulders, drawing blood and creating scars on the tough hides.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 20369
Male elephant seals (bulls) rear up on their foreflippers and fight for territory and harems of females. Bull elephant seals will haul out and fight from December through March, nearly fasting the entire time as they maintain their territory and harem. They bite and tear at each other on the neck and shoulders, drawing blood and creating scars on the tough hides. Sandy beach rookery, winter, Central California.
Species: Elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California
Image ID: 35144
Garibaldi maintains a patch of algae (just in front of the fish) to entice a female to lay a clutch of eggs.
Image ID: 37144
Courting pair of southern right whales underwater, Eubalaena australis. While the posture in this photo isn't quite mating, it is a courting behavior that often precedes mating. The male is below, upside down and trying to access the female belly-to-belly. However, the female does not want to mate, so she has positioned herself upside down at the surface so that the males in the courting group cannot reach her genital slit.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38345
Adult Male California Sea Lion with Several Young Pups, Mexico. This male sea lion is not yet large and mature enough to form his own harem so he swims at the underwater periphery of the territories of the more established males to see what females he can approach without being challenged and chased off by a bigger male.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39957
Female California Sea Lion with Severe Fishing Line Entanglement Injury, in the Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico. The line is buried in the sea lion's tissue so far that is difficult to see. It is possible this synthetic line will continue to cut into the skin of this sea lion until it succumbs to infection or blood loss. I have never seen any marine mammal rescue teams at the Coronado islands and suspect this poor animal will not live long.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: Coronado Islands (Islas Coronado), Baja California, Mexico
Image ID: 39959