Photo of the Day 19 March 2008

Cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, 1995
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Silhouetted against the sun, sandhill cranes glide over the wetlands of Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Every winter groups of sandhills migrate from Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho to the warmer climes of Bosque del Apache. Naturalists are concerned that diminishing wetlands are leading the water birds to overpopulate this refuge.

Photo of the Day 18 March 2008

Dominica, 1996
Photograph by Michael Melford
A rainbow arcs over trees blooming on a hillside in the West Indies island of Dominica. The country's interior can receive some 300 inches (760 centimeters) of rain each year, yielding hundreds of square miles of mountainous, densely forested wilderness, much of it protected as state land. The country's volcanic activity also yields natural gems, such as boiling pools, geysers, and black-sand beaches.

Photo of the Day 17 March 2008

Sea Star, Ireland, 2005
Photograph by Brian Skerry
There are some 2,000 species of sea stars, such as this striped invertebrate off Ireland's Atlantic coast, living in all the world's oceans. Sea stars are famous for their ability to regenerate limbs, and in some cases, entire bodies. They accomplish this by housing most or all of their vital organs in their arms.

Photo of the Day 16 March 2008

Food Market, Papeete, Tahiti, 1997
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
A shopper seeks relief from the heat in the cool recesses of an indoor fish stall at a food market in Papeete, Tahiti. On the northwest coast of Tahiti, Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia and one of the largest urban areas in the South Pacific. The city gained prominence as a whaling and trading center due to its accessible harbor, and it continues to attract transpacific tourist ships today.

Photo of the Day 15 March 2008

Chimney Rock, Nebraska, 2000
Photograph by Jim Richardson
Twilight descends on Chimney Rock, a 325-foot (100-meter) geological formation in Nebraska's North Platte River valley. In the first half of the 19th century, scores of emigrants traveling west on the Oregon Trail passed this famous landmark, originally called "Elk Penis" by Native Americans before it was renamed by white settlers.

Photo of the Day 14 March 2008

Striped Boxfish, Tukangbesi Islands, Indonesia, 2005
Photograph by Tim Laman
A dizzying array of dots and squiggles decorates a striped boxfish (Ostracion solorensis) gliding by a coral reef near Indonesia's Tukangbesi Islands. Boxfish, also known as trunkfish or cowfish, are known for their distinctive boxy profiles and for the bonelike, six-sided plates that cover much of their bodies and protect them from predators.

Photo of the Day 13 March 2008

Ha Pisga Gardens, Tel Aviv, Israel
Photograph by James Stanfield
The city of Tel Aviv, Israel, radiates from the Saint Pierre Church, nestled in the city's Ha Pisga Gardens. Formed in 1950 by the merging of the ancient port of Jaffa with the then-suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel's largest urban center is home to more than three million people, most of the country's industrial plants, and its only stock exchange.

Photo of the Day 12 March 2008

Turtle, French Polynesia, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
Like a baby bird embarking on its first flight, a just-hatched turtle, flippers outspread and eyes wide, swims just below the ocean's surface in the waters of French Polynesia. In addition to a dazzling variety of wildlife, including several marine turtle species, the archipelago's rich lagoons spawn a treasure available in few other places: black pearls.

Photo of the Day 11 March 2008

Guitar, Aspen, Colorado, 1999
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Rock-and-roll pioneer Chuck Berry plays a candy apple-red guitar at the Jazz Aspen Music Festival. Called the father of rock-and-roll, Berry is as revered for his iconic hits, such as "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene," and "Memphis," as he is for helping break the color barrier in the music world.

Photo of the Day 10 March 2008

Waterfowl, Zambezi River, 1997
Photograph by Chris Johns
Silhouetted by salmon skies at sunset, a pair of waterfowl alights on a tree limb near the Zambezi River. Often called the lifeline of southern Africa, the Zambezi cuts a 2,200-mile (3,540-kilometer) course east from Zambia to the Indian Ocean, sustaining elephants, hippos, crocodiles, hundreds of species of birds—and tens of millions of people—along the way.

Photo of the Day 9 March 2008

Fish Tail, French Polynesia, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
Even from its tail end, a Napoleon wrasse fish swimming through the waters of French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago is instantly recognizable by the electric blue patterns coating its fins and scales. But these fish are distinctive from any end. Headfirst, they're known for their spiky teeth and plump, swollen lips that absorb the prickles of the bristly reef creatures on which they feed.

Photo of the Day 8 March 2008

Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, 1999
Photograph by David Alan Harvey
Sunlight filters over the forested seaside cliffs of Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean islands, which lie just beyond the tail end of the Windward Antilles, are a study in contrasts. Densely populated Trinidad is an industrial giant with a thriving nightlife; a two-hour ferry ride away, Tobago is a relatively undeveloped, easygoing island that specializes in relaxation.

Photo of the Day 7 March 2008

Coffee Break, Arizona, United States, 1996
Photograph by Vincent J. Musi
For many people, diners—and their colorful employees—represent relics of a slower, gentler era. Historians trace the first diner to 1872 in Providence, Rhode Island, where pressman Walter Scott sold food from a horse-drawn wagon parked outside the Providence Journal newspaper office. Nostalgic for the "good old days," Americans today are fueling a 21st-century diner revival.

Photo of the Day 6 March 2008

Iguana, Sittee River, Belize, 2007
Photograph by Tim Laman
On Belize's Sittee River, a green iguana poised to spring regards the camera from the corner of its eye. Home to the Western Hemisphere's longest coral reef and hundreds of acres of deciduous, evergreen, swamp, and mangrove forests, Belize is among the richest habitats on Earth, supporting wildlife such as tapirs, jaguars, pumas, crocodiles, turtles, and hundreds of species of birds and amphibians.

Photo of the Day 5 March 2008

Sharks and Grunts, French Polynesia, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
In the fertile waters of French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago, a school of blue-striped grunts beats a fast retreat as a pair of blacktip reef sharks lurk in the distance. Although the nutrient-poor soil of the French territory limits its terrestrial flora and fauna, the archipelago's waters are among the world's most scenic, species-rich spots.

Photo of the Day 4 March 2008

Lanai Island, Hawaii, 1997
Photograph by Jim Richardson
Overcoming a swell of threatening clouds, the heavens part over Hawaii's Lanai Island, bestowing a celestial glow on a patchwork of former pineapple fields. Lanai once produced almost 75 percent of the world's pineapples; today, as production moves to cheaper markets overseas, Hawaiian farmers are converting their fields into solar energy farms.

Photo of the Day 3 March 2008

Gentoo Penguins, Antarctica, 2006
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
Poised to plunge belly-first into the ocean, a colony of gentoo penguins lines up for a dip. Thanks to their sleek bodies and strong paddle-like flippers, gentoos are the world's fastest underwater swimming birds, reaching speeds of up to 22 miles an hour (36 kilometers an hour).

Photo of the Day 2 March 2008

Omo Region, Ethiopia, 2000
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
In southern Ethiopia's Omo region, a Hamar child peeks out from under her mother's shawl. The Hamar are among the most elaborately attired of Ethiopia's ethnic groups. Daily dress may include piles of beaded necklaces and metal bracelets, beaded belts and headbands, leather skirts or loincloths, and elaborate, sculptured hairstyles.

Photo of the Day 1 March 2008

Bison Herd, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1996
Photograph by Raymond Gehman
Bison thrive in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park years after fires swept through more than a third of the park. Ecologists now regard wildfires as natural and beneficial in forest ecosystems. They return nutrients to the soil by burning dead or decaying matter, burn off disease-ridden plants and insects, and clear thick canopies and undergrowth, allowing a new generation of seedlings to grow.

Photo of the Day 29 February 2008

Argiope Spider, New Caledonia, 2000
Photograph by Peter Essick
An argiope spider awaits prey in its ornate web in the French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The thick webbing is called stabilimentum, a structural flourish which some scientists think serves to make the webs more visible to birds, which might otherwise fly into them.

Photo of the Day 28 February 2008

Ruins of Nemrud Dagh, Turkey, 2000
Photograph by Reza
The sun sets on the first-century ruins of Nemrud Dagh, Turkey, millennia after it set on the ancient kingdom itself. Built by King Antiochus I in southeastern Turkey, the kingdom is one of the best preserved but least known ruins of the Late Hellenistic period. Its monuments are a story in stone depicting the king, his family and ancestors, and their interaction with the gods.

Photo of the Day 27 February 2008

Berber Woman, Taarart, Morocco, 2005
Photograph by Alexandra Boulat
A Berber woman shows her hand, stained dark with henna for a wedding in the Moroccan town of Taarart. There are about 25 million Berbers—also known as Amazigh—living in Morocco and Algeria. They trace their roots back thousands of years before the seventh century Arab conquest that brought Islam to the region's mountains and deserts.

Photo of the Day 26 February 2008

Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Bahamas, 2007
Photograph by Brian Skerry
The oceanic whitetip, one of the most abundant sharks just three decades ago, is critically endangered in parts of its range because of relentless demand for its fins. But bans in the Bahamas on the export of shark parts and commercial long-line fishing have made the islands' blue waters a veritable shark sanctuary.

Photo of the Day 25 February 2008

Mountain Stream, New Hampshire, 1995
Photograph by Medford Taylor
An autumn blush colors trees along a secluded stream in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, the Whites, as they're called locally, are home to 6,300-foot (1,916-meter) Mount Washington, tallest mountain in Northeastern United States and record-holder for the fastest winds on Earth—231 miles an hour (372 kilometers an hour).

Photo of the Day 24 February 2008

School of Fish, Tuamotu Archipelago, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
A school of fish clusters near a reef in French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago. The extensive reefs of the Tuamotu harbor a bounty of exotic marine life and make the region one of the premier scuba diving sites in the world.

Photo of the Day 23 February 2008

Beaufort Sea, Yukon Territory, Canada, 1999
Photograph by Michael Melford
Sunset over the Beaufort Sea plunges Canada's Yukon Territory into a crimson haze. More than 313,000 tourists make summer pilgrimages to the territory, one of North America's last great wildernesses. Today tourism booms there, drawing adventurers to the frontier's glaciated peaks, untouched wilderness, and abundant wildflowers and wildlife.

Photo of the Day 22 February 2008

Pearl Station and Reef, French Polynesia, 1996
Photograph by David Doubilet
A split shot shows a coral reef beneath a pearl workstation in French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago. The region, a 900-mile (1,450-kilometer) arc of 76 sparsely populated atolls and two islands, is one of the world's primary producers of cultured black pearls.

Photo of the Day 21 February 2008

Pontoon Rafting, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2006
Photograph by Michael Nichols
Rafters aboard a motorized pontoon boat get a thorough soaking on the rain-swollen Colorado River in Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park. Each year, some 22,000 visitors board rubber paddle rafts, oar-powered wooden dories, and luxury motorized rafts to ply this storied stretch of the Colorado's waters.

Photo of the Day 20 February 2008

Leopard Seal, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, 2006
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
A mature female leopard seal makes a threatening gesture to protect her kill from another leopard seal that had appeared behind the photographer. "More frightening than the canines," wrote the photographer, "was the deep jackhammer sound she let loose that rattled through my chest." Her display worked; the rival seal moved on.

Photo of the Day 19 February 2008

Cabbage Coral, Kadavu Island, Fiji, 2004
Photograph by Tim Laman
Cabbage coral provides refuge to a bigeye fish in Great Astrolabe Reef off Fiji's Kadavu Island. More than 330 islands speckle Fijian waters, which hold nearly 4,000 square miles (10,350 square kilometers) of reef, a vital trove of marine biodiversity.

Photo of the Day 18 February 2008

Pines and Palm Trees, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, 1996
Photograph by Raymond Gehman
Sunset bathes Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve in an orange glow. The preserve, 720,000 acres (291,375 hectares) of primordial swamp on Florida's southwest coast, is home to the elusive Florida panther and an impressive diversity of birds, among other unique fauna and flora. But human development in and around the area threatens to send this fragile ecosystem into a tailspin.

Photo of the Day 17 February 2008

Saint Simeon Church, Syria, 1978
Photograph by James Stanfield
The isolated ruins of the Church of Saint Simeon stand beneath a turquoise sky in the Syrian desert. This sprawling complex, located on a hill 37 miles (60 kilometers) from the nearest city (Aleppo), was built between A.D. 476 and 491 to honor St. Simeon Stylites, the famed ascetic monk who spent nearly 40 years in prayer atop a 40-foot (12-meter) pillar. The remains of the pillar can still be seen in the church's courtyard.

Photo of the Day 16 February 2008

Scorpion Fish, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
A scorpion fish attempts to hide in the sand in French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago. Masters of disguise, scorpion fish use cryptic coloring and specialized appendages to help them hide from predators and surprise prey. What happens when its cover is blown? The fish uses its highly venomous dorsal spines in a lightning-quick attack.

Photo of the Day 15 February 2008

Ancient Sculpture, Angkor, Cambodia, 1968
Photograph by W. E. Garrett
Centuries of dormancy allowed the Cambodian jungle ample time to consume the work of Khmer artists in the sprawling Angkor temple complex. Built beginning in A.D. 800, Angkor was the capital of the Khmer kingdom until about A.D. 1430, when its leaders abandoned the site to establish a new capital at Phnom Penh.

Photo of the Day 14 February 2008

Common Loons, Moose Lake, Wyoming, 1988
Photograph by Michael Quinton
Two common loons in checkered breeding plumage engage in a courtship ritual in Wyoming's Moose Lake. Loon pairs are generally monogamous and highly territorial, emitting their haunting yodels during the breeding season to ward off intruders and violently attacking any that come too close.

Photo of the Day 13 February 2008

Aurora Borealis, Acadia National Park, Maine, 2005
Photograph by Michael Melford
Darkness settles over Jordan Pond in Maine's Acadia National Park as northern lights swirl above. "It was my last night in Acadia, and I was setting up for a long exposure of starlight in the night sky," recalls photographer Michael Melford, "and this brilliant red aurora appeared. I was in a panic to make sure I caught it."

Photo of the Day 12 February 2008

Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia, 2001
Photograph by Alexandra Boulat
A woman walks among the bell-shaped spires of Indonesia's Borobudur—the world's largest Buddhist temple. Built in the jungles of Java during the eighth and ninth centuries A.D., this ancient pilgrimage site lay abandoned for centuries until it was rediscovered and restored in the early 1900s.

Photo of the Day 11 February 2008

Coral Reef, Fiji Islands, 2005
Photograph by Tim Laman
Without a strobe light to animate its riot of colors, this Fijian reef in 45 feet (14 meters) of water remains as a fish would see it. Red light, with its longer wavelengths, dissipates at about 30 feet (10 meters), leaving smoky blues and muted yellows to dominate.

Photo of the Day 10 February 2008

Burmese Boy, Nanyung, Myanmar, 2003
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
A boy bathes in a mist-shrouded river in Nanyung, Myanmar (Burma). Despite rich natural resources, Myanmar remains impoverished and repressed, the result of military regimes that have ruled the nation for more than 40 years.

Photo of the Day 9 February 2008

Pink Anemonefish, Kosrae Island, Micronesia, 2007
Photograph by Tim Laman
Two pink anemonefish peek from the safety of their anemone home on a reef off Micronesia's Kosrae Island. The island's remoteness and a concerted effort by locals to preserve marine wildlife there endows Kosrae with some of the most pristine reefs on Earth.

Photo of the Day 8 February 2008

Harp Seal, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, 2004
Photograph by Brian Skerry
A young harp seal tests the frigid waters in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. Once the object of a bitter controversy between sealers and animal-welfare groups, import restrictions on their pelts and Canadian laws protecting seal pups have helped populations of these charismatic sea mammals recover.

Photo of the Day 7 February 2008

Buckskin Gulch, Utah, 2003
Photograph by Bill Hatcher
Dark clouds roll over Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness in Utah. The 112,500-acre (45,527-hectares) area in northern Arizona and southern Utah is known for its towering stone amphitheaters, sandstone arches, and the Vermillion Cliffs, all painted in dramatic streaks of red, pink, and orange, thanks to heavy iron deposits.

Photo of the Day 6 February 2008

Women Picking Cotton, China, 2003
Photograph by Michael S. Yamashita
Bundled against the wind, a group of women picks cotton in China. The Asian nation is the world's leading producer of cotton, with an output of 6.73 million tons per year. Farmers can't keep up with the burgeoning textile industry, however, which uses about 13 million tons of cotton a year. The Chinese often rely on imports to close the gap, which drives up textile prices for consumers worldwide.

Photo of the Day 5 February 2008

Tiger Close-Up, 1995
Photograph by Michael Nichols
A wary tiger flashes a toothy snarl in this extreme close-up. Tigers are thought to have evolved in China more than a million years ago, prowling west toward the Caspian Sea, north to Siberia, and south across Indochina and Indonesia. Today, three of the original eight tiger subspecies are extinct, and hunting and habitat loss have reduced populations from hundreds of thousands of animals to perhaps fewer than 2,500.

Photo of the Day 4 February 2008

Wildflowers and Sky, California, 2000
Photograph by Frans Lanting
A deep-blue sky sets off a mass of yellow wildflower blooms along California's Big Sur coast. Each year more than three million visitors navigate the treacherous turns of Highway 1, drawn by the plunging gorges, fog-strewn coves, exploding surf, and tortuous geography—5,000-foot (1,524-meter) summits plummet abruptly to the ocean—of California's dramatic 90-mile (145-kilometer) coast.

Photo of the Day 3 February 2008

Twilight Over Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, 1997
Photograph by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel
Crimson twilight gives a Martian air to Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. With just one maintained trail in an area the size of Delaware, this monument is decidedly big and wild. Wrote one observer: "Almost everywhere, the benchlands lay sliced with canyons—deep wounds that millions of years of flowing water have carved into a quarter billion years' worth of multicolored sandstone deposits."

Photo of the Day 2 February 2008

Miniature Horse, Kentucky, 2003
Photograph by Melissa Farlow
A miniature horse stands in a field near Lexington, Kentucky, a bit of a curiosity in a region known more for its regal, fleet-footed thoroughbreds. There are some 500 thoroughbred horse farms in and around Lexington, where pastures, fed by the rich leavings of a long-vanished sea, are said to be among the world's best.

Photo of the Day 1 February 2008

Swarm-Bots, Belgium, 2007
Photograph by Peter Essick
A team of "swarm-bots" negotiates challenging terrain outside a laboratory in Brussels, Belgium. A red color ring tells others, "Grab me;" blue means "stay away." Scientists study ant colonies, bird flocks, mammal herds, and fish schools to understand the simple genius of such animal swarms. Robots that mimic this complex group behavior could prove useful in a number of human applications.

Photo of the Day 31 January 2008

Sardines and Sharks, South Africa, 2002
Photograph by David Doubilet
Copper sharks torment a frenzied school of sardines off South Africa's east coast. In winter, sardines migrate northward en masse, creating an aquatic extravaganza that draws sharks, seals, seabirds, dolphins, and gamefish to a roiling all-you-can-eat buffet.

Photo of the Day 30 January 2008

Monte Carlo Casino and Mercedes, Monaco, 1995
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
The shiny finish of a black Mercedes car reflects Monaco's famous Monte Carlo Casino. A tiny Mediterranean principality with an outsize reputation, Monaco draws millions of tourists every year to its luxury amenities, including beachfront hotels, a yacht harbor, the Opera House, and casinos. Not surprisingly tourism and gambling are at the core of Monaco's economy.