Media Gallery: Photos

  • A large group of dancers from the island of Tokelau dance during fiafia, evening entertainment)

    Water is Rising: Pacific Islands, Art, and Climate Change
    Nov 1 2011 - 11:03am
    "This World of Ours, Does not feel steady, We keep rotating, Oi! What will happen to us?"
  • “The male weedy seadragon is entrusted with the pink, fertilized eggs once mating has been completed. It is his task to incubate them until their hatching, approximately eight weeks later. The day this photo was taken, the weather and conditions were unusually perfect: blue skies, little to no wind, and clear water. I took this photo while on my back under the local sea plants, looking up as it swam by.” -- Nature's Best Photographer, Richard Wylie

    Weedy Seadragon, Flinders pier, Flinders, Victoria, Australia
    Mar 25 2013 - 8:55am
    Weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) are found off the coast of south and east Australia. Just like seahorses, the male seadragon is tasked with caring for its eggs. The bright pink eggs are...
  • West Indian Manatee

    West Indian Manatee Portrait
    May 17 2013 - 9:24am
    West Indian Manatees, Trichechus manatus, are found in warm, shallow coastal ecosystems along the southeastern North America and northeastern South America. They graze plants in mangrove ecosystems...
  • <p>The West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord&nbsp;and&nbsp;Nærøyfjord&nbsp;site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The site's two fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, are considered archetypical fjord landscapes and among the most scenically outstanding anywhere. Their exceptional natural beauty is derived from narrow and steep-sided crystalline rock walls that rise up to 1,400 m from the Norwegian Sea and extend 500 m below sea level. The site features geological structures such as submarine moraines (undersea remnants of glacial activity), as well as colonies of seals (<em>Phoca vitulina</em>) and porpoises (<em>Phocoena phocoena</em>).</p>

    West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, Norway
    Nov 8 2010 - 2:10pm
    The West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The site's two fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, are...
  • North Atlantic right whales were long hunted for their baleen—the fringed plates hanging in their mouths that they use to strain the seawater for food. Baleen was used in a number of consumer products, such as corsets.

    Whale Baleen from a Dead Whale
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    Whalers hunted right whales for their blubber, which could be turned into oil to burn in lamps or make soap, and their baleen. Baleen is the series of fringed plates hanging in their mouths that they...
  • Whales are identifiable by their distinct pattern of callosities.

    Whale Callosities
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    Every North Atlantic right whale has a pattern of callosities unique to that individual. This distinctive pattern provides a very visual, convenient tool that researchers can use to tell one...
  • This photo provides a small glimpse of the amazing variety of whale skulls and skeletons available for study at the Smithsonian.

    Whale Collections
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    The Smithsonian has more whale skulls and skeletons than any other collection in the world. This photo provides a small glimpse of the amazing variety of skulls and skeletons available for study....
  • This is North Atlantic right whale #3333 who was spotted with fishing gear trailing from his mouth during an aerial survey off the coast of Georgia on January 29, 2008.

    Whale Entanglement
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    This is North Atlantic right whale #3333 who was spotted with fishing gear trailing from his mouth during an aerial survey off the coast of Georgia on January 29, 2008. Entanglement is one of the...
  • Hundreds to thousands of tiny crustaceans live on each right whale, eating algae that settles on their skin.

    Whale Lice
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    This close-up photo of a right whale's head shows dozens of hitchhikers—tiny crustaceans known as whale lice, or cyamid amphipods. They live on the rough patches of skin (known as callosities) on...
  • An underwater photo of a diver with a camera shooting video of a whale.

    Whale on Camera
    Mar 21 2011 - 4:41pm
    A still from Where the Whales Sing, part of the 19th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital.
  • In the 19th century, many women wore tight corsets that were stiffened with stays made from baleen.

    Whale Products in Fashion
    Jan 23 2013 - 12:35pm
    In the 19th century, "whalebone" was an important fashion tool—however, it wasn't made out of bone, but whale baleen. Dried baleen was flexible yet strong, and used to create structure in clothing,...
  • A team works to free a one-year-old right whale from fishing ropes wrapped and knotted around its body and flippers.

    Whale Rescue
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    A team from the Center for Coastal Studies works to free a one-year-old right whale from the fishing ropes wrapped and knotted around its body and flippers. The whale is Kingfisher, #3346 in the...