In the waters of the Fiji Islands, an emperor shrimp and a commensal crab nearly vanish in the calico pattern of a large leopard sea cucumber. The sea cucumber provides food for the crustaceans in the form of mucus on its skin and defends itself by ejecting its toxic stomach when danger threatens.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Fiji’s Rainbow Reefs," November 2004, National Geographic magazine)
Molten Lava Flow, Hawaii, 2004 Photograph by Frans Lanting
A flow of glowing lava issues from Mount Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Hawaii has some of the youngest land on Earth, remade daily by these rivers of molten rock.
"Kilauea molds the land, belching lava and fumes, hissing, roaring, always transforming," says photographer Frans Lanting. "The view I photographed that day doesn’t exist anymore."
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Red Hot Hawaii: Volcanoes National Park," October 2004, National Geographic magazine)
Hammerhead Shark, Bahamas, 2007 Photograph by Brian Skerry
Primordial in appearance, great hammerheads, like this one near the Bahamas, are actually among evolution’s most advanced sharks. Wide-set eyes and nostrils provide keen peripheral senses, and tiny electroreceptors on its snout help it pinpoint prey. Dozens of serrated teeth do the rest.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Blue Waters of the Bahamas: An Eden for Sharks," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)
Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, 2002 Photograph by Frans Lanting
A crumpled ice field forms at the confluence of two massive glaciers in Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. These glacial rivers snake together among the park’s mountains and form ice complexes that cover hundreds—sometimes thousands—of square miles.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Alaska’s Giant of Ice and Stone," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Stick Mantid, Cameroon, 2006 Photograph by Mark Moffett
Most of the roughly 1,800 species of mantids—often called praying mantises—spend their time sitting and waiting, seemingly at prayer. These highly skilled hunters and masters of disguise have fascinated humans for thousands of years; the ancient Greeks first used the term mantis, meaning "prophet."
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Mantids: Armed and Dangerous," January 2006, National Geographic magazine)
