2007-11-01 Great White Shark, Gansbaai, South Africa Photograph by David Doubilet
On the prowl in Gansbaai, South Africa, a great white shark flashes rows of teeth sharper than daggers. With its numbers declining around the world, scientists warn that this species, the most feared of all sharks, may be in danger.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Great White: Deep Trouble," April 2000, National Geographic magazine)
2007-11-02 Trekking the Namib Desert, Namibia, 1998 Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta
Alone in a vast expanse of sand, a man treks across giant dunes in Namibia’s Namib Desert. One of the driest places on Earth, the Namib necessitates resourceful adaptations. Snakes, spiders, beetles, and lizards can survive here only because fog delivers a wisp of vital moisture as it rolls in from the ocean most nights.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Life Grows Up," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)
2007-11-03 Crocodile, Cape York Peninsula, Australia, 1995 Photograph by Sam Abell
Seventeen feet (five meters) of brute reptilian force, a saltwater crocodile snaps at the camera in Shelburne Bay, Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Earth's largest living crocodilians, "salties," as they're affectionately known in Australia, are among the area's most dangerous predators. Without warning, they explode from the water with a thrash of their powerful tails and drag their victim—water buffalo, monkey, shark—under water.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Uneasy Magic of Australia's Cape York Peninsula," June 1996, National Geographic magazine)
2007-11-04 Smiling Couple, Blackpool, England, 1998 Photo: English hipster couple
Pressed and polished, a suited commuter seems to shield his eyes from an embracing couple below. Government jobs, nightclubs, golf courses, and beaches draw an eccentric mix of pierced hipsters and buttoned-up conservatives to the seaside town of Blackpool in England's Lancashire county. Blackpool emerged as a major tourist destination in the 20th century, though it still retains its retro charm.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "A Jolly Good Time in Blackpool, England," January 1998, National Geographic magazine)
2007-11-05 Royal Ascot Racecourse, England, 2007 Photograph by Peter Essick
In high spirits, a well-dressed crowd at Ascot Racecourse near London celebrates a day of horse races with singing and patriotic flag-waving. Scientists study the behavior of animal swarms, such as schools of fish, to predict the way humans might behave in such densely packed groups.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for "Swarm Theory," July 2007, National Geographic magazine)
2007-11-06 Midges in Cueva de Villa Luz, Mexico, 2001 Photograph by Stephen Alvarez
Millions of iridescent-winged midges like these throng the inky depths of Cueva de Villa Luz cave in southern Mexico. Hydrogen sulfide, which is poisonous to humans, permeates the cave's walls, streams, and air, sustaining a rich variety of bizarre organisms. Midges, bats, spiders, mites, amblypygids, and small, hemoglobin-rich fish thrive in the sulfur-saturated environment.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Deadly Haven," May 2001, National Geographic magazine)
在墨西哥南部的露滋村的光明洞(Cueva de Villa Luz)中漆黑的深处,聚集了无数只图中这样有着五彩斑斓的翅膀的蚊蚋。洞穴中的石壁,溪流和空气中弥漫着对人类有毒害的硫化氢,孳生出大量的奇异生物。蚊蚋,蝙蝠,蜘蛛,螨虫,有鞭蝎以及一种富含血红蛋白的小鱼等均在这个硫磺饱和的环境下大量的繁衍生长。
2007-11-07 Surf on Beach, Canary Islands, 2006 Photograph by Justin Guariglia
Surf spreads a foamy swath over a black beach in Gomera in Spain's Canary Islands. Gomera's tortuous geography—desert lowlands twist upwards into a soaring cloud forest—initiated the evolution of silbo, an indigenous six-note whistling language that allows the island's residents to efficiently communicate over hill and vale.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Quietest Place on Earth," September 2006, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
2007-11-08 Pair of Huskie Pups, Herbert Island, Greenland, 2006 Photograph by David McLain
These young pups on Herbert Island, Greenland, will grow up to be powerful, thick-furred sled dogs conditioned to survive long periods of exertion in subzero temperatures. A hardy breed descended from canines that accompanied immigrants who traveled from Siberia to Greenland some 5,000 years ago, Greenland dogs pull sleds that weigh upwards of a thousand pounds (450 kilograms) in temperatures near minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 57 degrees Celsius).
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Last Days of the Ice Hunters," January 2006, National Geographic magazine)
2007-11-09 Gull Island, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 1998 Photograph by Michael Melford
Gull Island, off of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, is a refuge for hundreds of seagulls. One of Alaska's most heavily trafficked areas, the Kenai Peninsula abounds with postcard views—snowcapped mountains, rivers that roil with spawning salmon, an abundant supply of moose, bears, eagles, and puffins, four active volcanoes, and a gigantic, otherworldly icescape, Harding Icefield.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Taking on the Kenai," May/June 1998, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
2007-11-10 Devil's Marbles, Australia, 2000 Photograph by Cary Wolinsky
Colossal orbs of rosy granite serve as props for visitors' snapshots in Australia's Northern Territory. Known as the Devils Marbles, these naturally rounded boulders formed over a billion years ago when cooling magma in the Earth's crust forced up mounds of sandstone-covered granite. Wind, water, chemical, and mechanical erosion shaped the granite into their distinctive shapes, revered by Aborigines as the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Australia: A Harsh Awakening," July 2000, National Geographic magazine)