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)