National Geographic Photo of the Day - January 2009 Part 3

January 15, 2009

Lion in Tree, Zambezi River, Zambia

Photograph by Chris Johns

A female lion claims her spot in a tree near the Zambezi River in Zambia. Female lions are the primary hunters in each family group, or pride. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeests, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Down the Zambezi," October 1997, National Geographic magazine)

January 14, 2009

Oil Refinery, Ras Tanurah, Saudi Arabia

Photograph by Thomas J. Abercrombie

Gas flares fire the night at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanurah refinery, north of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Each day sparkling towers here produce more than half a million barrels of refined petroleum, the largest output of any refinery in the Middle East.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Saudi Arabia—Beyond the Sands of Mecca," January 1966, National Geographic magazine)

 

January 13, 2009

Fire-Walking Ceremony, Viti Levu Island, Republic of Fiji

Photograph by James L. Stanfield

The body is transcended and the soul is made pure by mortification of the flesh—including piercings with these needles—in the annual Hindu fire-walking ceremony on Viti Levu Island in Fiji. Fire walkers prepare with fasting, prayer, and bathing in the ocean. At their temple, they may walk over hot coals several times in thanks for blessings of health and long life from the fire goddess Draupathi.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Two Worlds of Fiji," October 1995, National Geographic magazine)

January 12, 2009

Mandrill, Central Africa

Photograph by Michael Nichols

A mandrill, tethered on a rope in central Africa, reaches for the camera. These colorful primates are threatened. They are often hunted as bushmeat, and many Africans consider them to be a delicacy. Mandrills are feeling the squeeze of spreading agriculture and human settlement—both are shrinking their rain forest homeland.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Clearing," March 2001, National Geographic magazine)

January 11, 2009

Shrimp Hiding in Sand, Florida

Photograph by Robert F. Sisson

Shunning light, a pink shrimp buries itself in aquarium sand except for its feelers and golf-ball eyes. To avoid predators, they'll burrow even deeper, leaving only a tiny hole for breathing.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Shrimp Nursery—Science Explores New Ways to Farm the Sea," May 1965, National Geographic magazine)

National Geographic Photo of the Day - January 2009 Part 2

January 10, 2009

Castle Near Kilgarvan, Ireland

Photograph by Sam Abell

The green countryside of County Kerry, Ireland, slowly reclaims a castle near the village of Kilgarvan. Taking its present name from the Irish Cill Garbháin, or Church of St. Garbhan, Kilgarvan rests on the banks of the Roughty River, which flows into Kenmare Bay.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Ireland on Fast-Forward," September 1994, National Geographic magazine)

January 9, 2009

Islanders Crabbing at Night, Samana Cay, Bahamas

Photograph by James L. Stanfield

Islanders, on a seasonal visit to uninhabited Samana Cay in the eastern Bahamas, crab by torchwood light at a point probably seen by Christopher Columbus's fleet on October 12, 1492. Columbus visited five islands in the Bahamas before reaching Cuba.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Where Columbus Found the New World," November 1986, National Geographic magazine)

January 8, 2009

F-105 Fighters, Hawaii

Photograph by Albert Moldvay

A haze of smoke veils the silver snouts of the "Flying Tigers," an F-105 squadron which, at the time of this 1965 photo, was on temporary duty at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. Flight crews used black-powder charges to start each jet's powerful engine.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Of Planes and Men—U.S. Air Force Wages Cold War and Hot," September 1965, National Geographic magazine)

Rock Carvings, Petra, Jordan

Photograph by Jodi Cobb

Hidden at the end of a long ravine, the buildings of Petra, Jordan, were carved into sandstone cliffs by the Nabataeans around 312 B.C. After annexation by the Romans in A.D. 106, the city—once a hub of commerce—became less important as trade routes developed along the Red Sea and Nile River. Petra is now protected as a World Heritage site.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Jordan: Kingdom in the Middle," February 1984, National Geographic magazine)

January 6, 2009

Chateau Gaillard, Les Andelys, France

Photograph by David L. Arnold

A symbol of long-ago battles, Chateau Gaillard lies in ruins near the town of Les Andelys, France. It was built by Richard the Lion-Hearted—King of England and Duke of Normandy—as a strategic redoubt against the king of France. In 1204 French soldiers storming the castle broke England's grip on Normandy.
(Photo shot on assignment for "The Civilizing Seine," April 1982, National Geographic magazine)

National Geographic Photo of the Day - January 2009 Part 1

 

January 5, 2009

Bioluminescent Organisms, Japan

Photograph by Paul A. Zahl

The transparent shells of tiny Cypridina hilgendorfii, found in the coastal waters and sands of Japan, hold a creature that emits a luminous blue substance when disturbed. During World War II, the Japanese harvested these creatures for soldiers to use when reading maps and messages at night.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Nature's Night Lights—Probing the Secrets of Bioluminescence," July 1971, National Geographic magazine)

January 4, 2009

Tree Frog Tadpoles, Costa Rica

Photograph by Paul A. Zahl

Within days of being deposited on a leaf overhanging a stream, tree frog eggs grow into recognizable tadpoles. Bulbous yolk sacs provide nourishment. As the wrigglers develop, the gelatinous outer membrane decomposes, perhaps triggered by a chemical change in the tadpoles. One by one, they slide off to a life of their own in the water.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Nature's Living, Jumping Jewels," July 1973, National Geographic magazine)

January 3, 2009

Statue of Christ of the Abyss, Florida

Photograph by Bates Littlehales

Softly aglow in sea-washed sunlight, Christ of the Abyss stands 30 feet (9 meters) down in the Atlantic in Florida's John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Visitors to the sanctuary don masks and fins or view the sea life through the glass bottoms of tour boats.
(Photo shot on assignment for "The Lower Keys, Florida's 'Out Islands,'" January 1971, National Geographic magazine)


 

January 2, 2009

Canyonland Grotto, Utah

Photograph by Walter Meayers Edwards

A vaulted grotto with a skylight shelters the ruins of cliff dwellings. The Anasazi, or Ancient Ones, tilled corn in the valley below and retreated to the heights at night. Whether fleeing enemies or a prolonged and widespread drought, they disappeared from Utah by about 1300. This canyon, near Salt Creek in Utah's Canyonlands National Park, also shows evidence of disastrous flash floods at that time. Visitors today know the huge alcove as Paul Bunyan's Potty.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Canyonlands, Realm of Rock and the Far Horizon," July 1971, National Geographic magazine)

January 1, 2009

Sailboats, Turag River, Bangladesh

Photograph by Dick Durrance II

Graceful as butterflies, boats glide past rice fields on the meandering Turag River near Dacca, Bangladesh. Hundreds of watery highways interlace the heartland of this low-lying South Asian country.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Bangladesh—Hope Nourishes a New Nation," September 1972, National Geographic magazine)