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: 25878
Blue whale underwater closeup photo. This incredible picture of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit earth, shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: California
Image ID: 27324
Blue whale underwater closeup photo. This incredible picture of a blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit earth, shows it swimming through the open ocean, a rare underwater view.
Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Location: California
Image ID: 27331
Full Moon and Earth Shadow over Haleakala crater, Maui, Hawaii. The dark band on the horizon is the shadow of the earth, while the lighter pink band is atmosphere that is still lit by the setting sun.
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Image ID: 34517
Owl Canyon, a beautiful slot canyon that is part of the larger Antelope Canyon system. Page, Arizona.
Location: Navajo Tribal Lands, Page, Arizona
Image ID: 36030
Sunlight glows throughout a 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.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 37086
Belt of Venus and Earth Shadow at Dawn. The Belt of Venus is actually alpenglow visible near the horizon during twilight, above the antisolar point. Like alpenglow, the backscatter of reddened sunlight also creates the Belt of Venus. Unlike alpenglow, the sunlight scattered by fine particulates that cause the rosy arch of the Belt shines high in the atmosphere and lasts for a while after sunset or before sunrise.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37476
White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38276
White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38277
White southern right whale calf underwater, Eubalaena australis. About five per cent of southern right whales are born white due to a condition known as grey morphism and will gradually turn dark as they age. They are not albino (which is a complete lack of pigmentation). Sometimes referred to as "brindled", the white coloration is a recessive genetic trait and only lasts a few months. Typically, but not always, white calves will become much darker as they mature but will still be somewhat lighter than normal even as adults.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38278
Mother and calf southern right whales underwater. The calf swims close to its mother but, if the mother is accepting, the calf will be allowed to come close to the photographer and check him out.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38304
Mother and calf southern right whales underwater. The calf swims close to its mother but, if the mother is accepting, the calf will be allowed to come close to the photographer and check him out.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38312
Mother and calf southern right whales underwater. The calf swims close to its mother but, if the mother is accepting, the calf will be allowed to come close to the photographer and check him out.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38314
Mother and calf southern right whales underwater. The calf swims close to its mother but, if the mother is accepting, the calf will be allowed to come close to the photographer and check him out.
Species: Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis
Location: Puerto Piramides, Chubut, Argentina
Image ID: 38315
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