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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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. the rival seal moved on.
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
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