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Butterflies, Brazil
Photograph by Zig Koch
Butterflies spatter the shoreline of the Juruena River in Brazil’s new 4.7-million-acre (2-million-hectare) Juruena National Park. Several different species flock to the riverbanks to sip mineral salts from the sand.
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Victoria Falls, Zambia
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
The 355-foot (108-meter) drop of Victoria Falls just inches away, a swimmer stands at the lip of a hidden pool—an eight-foot-deep (two-meter-deep) divot in the riverbed rock—accessible only when the Zambezi River runs low.
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Whale Shark and Snorkelers, Maldives
Photograph by Manu San Felix
A school of snorkelers struggles to keep pace with a whale shark—the world’s biggest fish, which can grow more than 60 feet (18 meters) long. These rare sharks glide along swiftly, exhausting even fit swimmers within minutes.
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Carrot Seeds, Czech Republic
Photograph by Viktor Sykora
It takes a microscope to make a handful of carrot seeds look like a swarm of bristling space invaders. There are about 450,000 of these Daucus carota seeds in a single pound.
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Sanaga-Yong Chimp Death
Photograph by Monica Szczupider
At the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, more than a dozen residents form a gallery of grief, looking on as Dorothy—a beloved female felled in her late 40s by heart failure—is borne to her burial.
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Colt Fetus, England
Photograph by Tim Flach
Like a porcelain figurine carved into repose, the fetus of a foal floats in a jar. The 85-day-old, 5.5-inch-long (14-centimeter-long) colt was removed postmortem and preserved in formaldehyde after its mother, a thoroughbred, died.
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Mosquito and Water Drops, Finland
Photograph by Juhani Kosonen
On a window in Kotka, a slightly battered mosquito sits silhouetted against a mosaic of water drops, each reflecting spring sky and the crayon colors of nearby buildings.
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Sperm Whales, Atlantic Ocean
Photograph by Magnus Lundgren, Wild Wonders of Europe
Near the Azores, just below the sunlit Atlantic surface, sperm whales float in vertical repose. Scientists think "drift dives" are a form of communal slumber. This species may sleep the least of any mammal.
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Glass Frog, Germany
Photograph by Heidi and Hans-Jurgen Koch
The see-through skin of an inch-long (2.5-centimeter-long) glass frog reveals her eggs. Native to Venezuela, the frogs lay eggs in bushes and trees overhanging streams. Tadpoles hatch, then tumble into the current to be swept away.
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Icebreaker, Arctic Ocean
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
The 22-ton stainless steel propellers on the icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent pause in their work pushing the Canadian vessel through frozen waters—allowing a diver to venture near.
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Lions, Kenya
Photograph by Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
Hungry lions in a Masai Mara pride leave little of a wildebeest. "The animals were so involved [with] eating that I was able to drive very close and take a picture standing on my car's roof," says photographer Michel Denis-Huot.
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Big Rigs, Japan
Photograph by Roger Snider
Covered in chrome and gleaming neon, big rigs from across Japan shine at a truck show in Aichi Prefecture. Known as dekotora, most are working trucks—though on long hauls, they're typically not driven with all their lights on.
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Mount Fitz Roy, Argentina
Photograph by Jordi Busque
Moonlight sets mist aglow on the Patagonian peak of Mount Fitz Roy, known to local people as Cerro Chaltén, or "smoking mountain," because its summit is often capped in clouds.
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Wind Turbines, California
Photograph by Jeff Kroeze
More than 3,000 wind turbines bristle across the hills of the Tehachapi-Mojave Wind Resource Area, generating enough electricity to serve a quarter million homes each year.
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Great Gray Owl, Sweden
Photograph by Magnus Elander
The facial disk of feathers circling this great gray owl's eyes channel forest-floor sounds back to its ears, helping the bird pounce on a vole and carry it away.
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