藍色大閃蝶 Blue Morpho Butterfly

這張藍色大閃蝶的特寫照片顯示了其獨一無二的夢幻色彩。這種惹人注目的昆蟲產自中北美地區的熱帶雨林。它們的這種鈷藍色并非來自色素，而是其翅膀上成千上萬的半透明鱗片，這些鱗片可以濾出可見光中的藍光，并使之從翅膀上散發出來。
Photograph by Cary Wolinsky
A close-up of a mounted blue morpho butterfly shows its unique iridescent sheen. These mesmerizing insects, indigenous to the rain forests of Central and South America, get their cobalt hue not from pigment but from the thousands of semitransparent scales that filter blue from the visible spectrum and radiate it out from the wings.
海豹 Leopard Seal Underwater, Antarctica

一只斑海豹正在碧藍的海水中暢游，水面上則是一大塊隱現在背景中的南極浮冰。著名的1914年沙克爾頓探險隊中的一名成員稱斑海豹為“兇猛的帥哥”，其為南極地區的頂級食肉動物：迅猛，敏捷，貪食，并且壯碩。斑海豹身長可達12英尺(4米)，體重超過一千鎊(450公斤)。
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
A leopard seal swims in turquoise waters just below the surface as a jagged Antarctic ice floe looms in the background.The leopard seal, dubbed a “fierce, handsome brute” by a member of the famed 1914 Shackleton expedition, is a top Antarctic predator: fast, agile, voracious, and large, reaching some 12 feet (4 meters) in length and weighing more than a thousand pounds (450 kilograms).
塘鵝 Cape Gannets, Malgas Island, South Africa

在南非的西海岸國家公園，馬爾哈斯島的巖石海岸上有著許多塘鵝的窩，塘鵝是一種身披白衫，頭戴金冠的鳥。世界自然保護聯盟已將這種美麗的海鳥登錄在冊。因為很容易受到外界影響，這種鳥類幾乎只存在于非洲海岸。馬爾哈斯島上有將近70,000只塘鵝，一起分享著這片常有油輪經過的水域。
Photograph by Chris Johns
Dressed in snow-white plumage and golden crowns, a colony of cape gannets nests on the rocky coast of Malgas Island in South Africa’s West Coast National Park. The World Conservation Union lists these graceful shorebirds, found almost exclusively in coastal Africa, as vulnerable. The 70,000 cape gannets of Malgas Island share their waters with scores of oil tankers.
黑鹿 Sambar Deer, Madhya Pradesh, India

在印度的斑德哈瓦加國家公園，一頭黑鹿正在水源邊上飲水，這張照片是由遙控攝影機拍攝的。黑鹿是世界上分布最廣泛的鹿類之一，遍布于東南亞的森林里。在這座以虎聞名的公園中，它常成為老虎的獵物。
Photograph by Michael Nichols
Caught in the act by a remote camera trap, a sambar deer drinks from a water source in Bandhavgarh National Park, India. One of the most widely distributed deer species in the world, sambars live in forests throughout Southeast Asia and are favorite prey of tigers, for which this park is known.