2005

California Desert The American Southwest Wildflowers

Photos of Wildflowers at Anza Borrego Desert State Park

The spring wildflower bloom is happening right now at Anza Borrego Desert State Park, as well as many other places in California. The bloom appears to be early and thick this year due to the heavy rains we had over the past few months. Here are some examples, shot Sunday…

Phil CollaFebruary 10, 2005

Kings Canyon / Sequoia Sierra Nevada Trees

Photos of Sequoia Trees, Kings Canyon National Park

This is a stand of giant Sequioa trees, Sequoiadendron giganteum, in Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Park, California. The United State Postal Service recently licensed this image as artist reference to create a painting version of the photo for a postage stamp and associated paper and philatelic (stamp collecting) products.…

Phil CollaFebruary 9, 2005

California Central Coast Elephant Seal

Newborn Northern Elephant Seal, Central California

Mother and newborn pup Northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, central California coast. This newborn pup had just been born minutes before this photo was taken. Placental material, seen in the background, has attracted sea gulls who will consume it. The pup will be weaned surprisingly fast, in as little 2-3…

Phil CollaFebruary 8, 2005

California San Clemente Island Underwater Life

Kelp Forest, San Clemente Island

Seen here is the upper 20' of a giant kelp forest. The kelp grows from the ocean floor, 30-100' below, all the way to the surface where it continues growing, spreading out to form a canopy. This species of kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, is the world's fastest growing plant (if you…

Phil CollaFebruary 7, 2005

Photo of the Day

The Tribute Penny

Among collectors of ancient coins, the Tribute Penny has great appeal, especially to Christians. You may recall from your study of the Bible that Matthew 22:17-22, Mark 12:15-17 and Luke 20:22-26 all describe Jesus commenting on a denarius, a coin that we would refer to today as a "penny". Tell…

Phil CollaFebruary 5, 2005

California San Diego Sharks Underwater Life

Blue Shark Eye to Eye

Blue shark showing ampullae of Lorenzini, eye and small portion of nictitating membrane.Image ID: 01076Species: Blue shark, Prionace glaucaLocation: San Diego, California, USA This is a photograph of a blue shark, Prionace glauca. We bait for them offshore of San Diego, anywhere from 5 to 20 miles offshore (however far…

Phil CollaFebruary 4, 2005

Blue Whale Natural World Underwater Life

The Blue Whale, Largest Animal On Earth

The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth. Depending on which expert is cited, blue whales once attained lengths of 100 to 120 feet (32 meters) and have weighed up to 160 tons (145 metric tonnes). Blue whales are found throughout the worlds…

Phil CollaFebruary 4, 2005

California Fish Ocean Sunfish San Diego

Ocean Sunfish Floating On The Ocean Surface

Here's a photograph we licensed today for a book in Australia. Can you guess what the bright white object is? Ocean sunfish.Image ID: 02030Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola molaLocation: San Diego, California, USA It is an OCEAN SUNFISH (Mola mola), laying flat on the ocean's surface, far offshore of the San…

Phil CollaFebruary 3, 2005

Fish Florida Underwater Life

Photo of Mangrove Snapper in Three Sisters Spring

Mangrove snapper. Image ID: 02685 Species: Mangrove snapper, Lutjanus griseus Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida, USA I spent a week one winter hanging out at the Three Sisters spring in Crystal River, Florida, photographing manatees. Early in the week the weather was cold so plenty of manatees were…

Phil CollaFebruary 2, 2005

Photo of the Day

Fractals

Recently we were approached about producing Fractal Images for a client. With the correct software, and a sufficiently powerful computer, these are quite simple to create. Here are a few examples we made: The Mandelbrot Fractal. Fractals are complex geometric shapes that exhibit repeating patterns typified by self-similarity, or the…

Phil CollaFebruary 2, 2005

California Harbor Seal La Jolla

Photos of La Jolla Seals

Controversy over the La Jolla seals continues. To make a long story short: a group of Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) has taken up residence on the sand at the Children's Pool, a small pocket cove in La Jolla, California also known as Casa Cove. Their presence there has led…

Phil CollaFebruary 1, 2005

Florida Manatee Marine Life Underwater Life

Photo of West Indian Manatee, Crystal River, Florida

A West Indian manatee, also known as a Florida manatee, at the Three Sisters Springs on the Crystal River, Florida. A Florida manatee, or West Indian Manatee, swims slowly through the clear waters of Crystal River. Image ID: 02696 Species: West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus Location: Three Sisters Springs, Crystal…

Phil CollaFebruary 1, 2005

Guadalupe Island Mexico

Guadalupe Island Spearfishing World Record

The fellows who freedive at Isla Guadalupe (Mexico) in search of giant fish are some of the most skilled and intrepid hunters in the world. They literally enter the food chain in a way that terrestrial hunters do not. This notion is especially true at Guadalupe Island, a haven to…

Phil CollaJanuary 31, 2005

Great White Shark Guadalupe Island Mexico Underwater Life

Sex and the Single Shark

In the world of wildlife study, in which efforts are made to identify and track individual animals over time, researchers can fall prey to the temptation to name their subjects. There is considerable debate about the merits of this, as some scientists feel that assigning names to the animal subjects…

Phil CollaJanuary 30, 2005

General

What?

Oceanlight.com is a natural history stock photography website that first appeared in 1998 as an exercise to learn what the world wide web and websites were, learn to write the HTML to bring a site into being, get it hosted and see if the world thought anything of it. Considerable…

Phil CollaJanuary 29, 2005