860-287738 - Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), adult close-up, Campania, Italy

860-287732 - European Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), adult male in flight, Campania, Italy

860-287649 - Cascade du Saut du Laire on the Drac, Prapic, Champsaur Valley, ecrins National Park, Orcieres Merlette, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287656 - A hiker sitting on a rock contemplates the landscape at the edge of Lake Goleon (2438m) in the massif of Oisans with in the background the Meije (3983m) and the Rake (3809m), Ecrins National Park, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287724 - Great Tit (Parus major), adult perched on hawthorn branch with berries, Campania, Italy

860-287739 - Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), side view of an immature male swimming in a lake, Campania, Italy

860-287719 - Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), adult in flight among icebergs, Northeastern Region, Iceland

860-287634 - Wooden cross on the shore of Lake Allos (2226 m), in the background the Tours du Lac, Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287543 - Lake Nino (1760m) on the GR 20, stage between the refuge of Manganu and the Col de Verghio or Castellu di Vergio, in the background the Capu a Chiostru, Capu ai Sorbi and Monte Rotondo (2622m) in the center, Haute-Corse, France

860-287633 - Hiker on the Tours du Lac, Lake Allos (2226 m) and in the background Mont Pelat (3051m), Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287726 - Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), adult perched on a Bluethorn branch, Campania, Italy

860-287637 - Lake Allos seen from the collar of the congested, in the background the refuge of Lake Allos dominated by Mount Pelat (3051m), Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287605 - Vallee de La Claree, the Long Lake (2387m) with in the background the Cerces massif (3093m), Nevache, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287636 - Reflections of Lake Tours on Lake Allos (2226 m), Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287689 - Red Knobbed hornbill (Rhyticeros cassidix), near the nest, Tangkoko National Park, Sulawesi, Celebes, Indonesia

860-287728 - Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), adult landing, Campania, Italy

860-287652 - A couple of hikers walk to Lake Goleon (2438m) in the Oisans massif, ecrins National Park, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287720 - Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus), adult male standing on the ground, Finnmark Norway

860-287545 - Hiker on the suspended footbridge of Spasimata on the GR 20, Cirque de Bonifatu, Corsica Regional Nature Park, Balagne, Corse-du-Sud, France

860-287731 - Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), adult with a caught frog, Campania, Italy

860-287722 - Icelandic landscape, field of Nootka Lupine with snowy mountains in the background, Southern, Region Iceland

860-287718 - Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), adults on the shore with rough sea the background, Campania, Italy

860-287714 - Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis), Juvenile perched on the ground, Salalah, Dhofar, Oman

860-287608 - Vallee de La Claree, two hikers on the GR country of the Tour du Mont Thabor, flowering Rhododendron ferrugineux, in the background the Cerces massif (3093m), Nevache, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287630 - The Sanctuary of the Madonna of Fenestre (1904m), Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), Valley of the Madonna of Fenestre, Haute-Vesubie, Mercantour National Park, Alpes-Maritimes, France

860-287544 - Hiker on the suspended footbridge of Spasimata on the GR 20, Cirque de Bonifatu, Corsica Regional Nature Park, Balagne, Corse-du-Sud, France

860-287607 - Former boundary marker at Col des Muandes (2828m) on the GR57, Claree Valley, Nevache, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287631 - Sunset on the larches near Lake Allos (2226 m), Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287715 - Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata), adult swimming in a pool, Finnmark, Norway

860-287650 - Hiker at Lake Lauzon (2008m), La Chapelle-en-Valgaudemar, Ecrins National Park, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287723 - Great Tit (Parus major), adult standing in the snow, Campania, Italy

860-287736 - Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata), adult feeding its chicks, Fes-Meknes, Morocco

860-287655 - Sunset on the Emparis plateau, La Grave, Ecrins National Park, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287716 - Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), adult standing in the water at sunset, Campania, Italy

860-287606 - Vallee de la Claree, Kuepfer's Buttercup (Ranunculus kuepferi) bed and hiker on the GR57, Nevache, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287638 - Lake Allos (2226 m) dominated by Mont Pelat (3051m), view from the Tours du Lac, Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287541 - Lake Nino (1760m), horses grazing the grass around the pozzines (small pond of water surrounded by grassy lawns), stage on the GR 20 between the refuge of Manganu and the Col de Verghio or Castellu di Vergio, Haute-Corse, La France

860-287721 - Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus), colony on Stóri Karl islet, Iceland

860-287540 - Lake Nino (1760m) stage on the GR 20 between the refuge of Manganu and the Col de Verghio or Castellu di Vergio, horses grazing the grass around the pozzines (small pools of water surrounded by grassy lawns), Haute-Corse, France

860-287654 - Flowerbed with elderflower Orchis (Dactylorhiza latifolia) on the Emparis plateau, La Grave, ecrins National Park, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287542 - Lake Nino (1760m), horses grazing the grass around the pozzines (small pond of water surrounded by grassy lawns), stage on the GR 20 between the refuge of Manganu and the Col de Verghio or Castellu di Vergio, Haute-Corse, La France

860-287632 - Notre-Dame des Monts chapel of Lake Allos (2226 m), in the background the Tours du Lac, Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287450 - Tara Oceans Expeditions - May 2011. Tara with deployed plancton nets. On "station", the boat is drifting without engine or sails. Tara Oceans, a unique expedition: Tara Oceans is the very first attempt to make a global study of marine plankton, a form of sea life that includes organisms as small as viruses and bacterias, and as big as medusas. Our goal is to better understand planktonic ecosystems by exploring the countless species, learning about interactions among them and with their environment. Marine plankton is the only ecosystem that is almost continuous over the surface of the Earth. Studying plankton is like taking the pulse of our planet. Recently, scientists have discovered the great importance of plankton for the climate: populations of plankton are affected very rapidly by variations in climate. But in turn they can influence the climate by modifying the absorption of carbon. In a context of rapid physico-chemical changes, for example the acidification observed today in the world's oceans, it is urgent to understand and predict the evolution of these particular ecosystems. Finally, plankton is an astonishing way of going back in time ? a prime source of fossils. Over the eons, plankton has created several hundred meters of sediment on the ocean floors. This allows us to go back in time, to the first oceans on Earth, and better understand the history of our biosphere. More than 12 fields of research are involved in the project, which will bring together an international team of oceanographers, ecologists, biologists, geneticists, and physicists from prestigious laboratories headed by Eric Karsenti of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Galapagos

860-287729 - Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), adult standing in a swamp at sunset, Campania, Italy

860-287725 - Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), adult perched on a Blackthorn branch with flowers, Campania, Italy

860-287733 - Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina), juvenile landing on the ground, Dhofar, Oman

860-287737 - Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), adult in winter plumage standing in the water before the sunrise, Campania, Italy

860-287730 - Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), adult close-up, Campania, Italy

860-287687 - Spectral tarsier (Tarsius spectrum, also called Tarsius tarsier), Tangkoko National Park, Sulawesi, Celebes, Indonesia

860-287635 - Wooden cross on the shore of Lake Allos (2226 m), in the background the Tours du Lac, Haut-Verdon, Mercantour National Park, Alps, France

860-287734 - Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), juvenile in flight, Dhofar, Oman

860-287653 - Hikers at the altitude of 1951 m on the path to the neck of Lake Goleon, Valley of the hamlet of Valfroide in the massif of Oisans with La Meije (3983m) in the background, Ecrins National Park, Hautes-Alpes, La France

860-287727 - European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), adult standing on a Blackthorn branch, Campania, Italy

860-287735 - European Roller (Coracias garrulus), side view of an adult perched on a branch, Basilicata, Italy

860-287609 - Vallee de La Claree, hikers on the Pont du Moutet, in the background the massif of Cerces (3093m) and the peaks of the Main of Crepin (2942m), Nevache, Hautes-Alpes, France

860-287717 - Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata), adult male perched on a branch, Campania, Italy

860-287538 - Red billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) in zebra back in Kruger National park, South Africa

860-287419 - Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus), Adult female with a baby, detail, Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo, Indonesia

860-287417 - Atlantic footballfish, Himantolophus groenlandicus. Female with modified ray on the head making a "fishing-rod", tipped with a lure on a central luminous bulb. It uses this to attract smaller fish in the dark abyss. Portugal

860-287415 - Red-bellied piranha, Pygocentrus nattereri. Waiting for a prey near the surface in the middle of aquatic plants. Brazil

860-287434 - Always drive me in my journey. Two elephants walking in the savannah Chobe National Park Botswana

860-287418 - Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus), Adult female with a baby, Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo, Indonesia

860-287414 - Dramatic fight between an octopus and a moray eel. The moray makes a knot on itself that runs over the body and frees it from the tantacles of the octopus. Portugal

1177-2478 - Fish trapped in plastic water bottle in ocean

860-287305 - Colline landscape, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287238 - Platypus or Duck-billed platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, eating a Australian freshwater crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus. They also eat worms, insect larvae, freshwater shrimps that it digs out of the riverbed with its snout or catches while swimming. It uses cheek-pouches to carry prey to the surface, where it is eaten. The platypus needs to eat about 20% of its own weight each day, which requires it to spend an average of 12 hours daily looking for food. They have a sense of electroreception locating their prey in part by detecting electric fields generated by muscular contractions. Queensland, Australia - Composite image

860-287300 - Mongolians horsemen, lead a troop of horses running in a group in the meadow, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287357 - Polar Bear( Ursus maritimus ) walking along a barrier island outside Kaktovik, Every fall, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) gather near Kaktovik on the northern edge of ANWR, Barter Island, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

860-287313 - Mongolians traditionnaly dressed on a horse, traditional exercise of address, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287297 - Mongolian traditionnaly dressed with horses running in a group in the water, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287310 - Mongol on a horse, with a catch lasso, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287360 - Polar Bear( Ursus maritimus ) near by the bones pile, carcass of Bow whales hunt by the villagers, along a barrier island outside Kaktovik, Every fall, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) gather near Kaktovik on the northern edge of ANWR, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

860-287356 - Polar Bear( Ursus maritimus ) female and cub resting at sunset along a barrier island outside Kaktovik, Every fall, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) gather near Kaktovik on the northern edge of ANWR, Barter Island, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

860-287290 - Gelada or Gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada), dominant male, grooming with a female, Debre Libanos, Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Africa

860-287308 - Mongolian woman with her horse, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287358 - Polar Bear( Ursus maritimus ),near the water edge along a barrier island outside Kaktovik, Every fall, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) gather near Kaktovik on the northern edge of ANWR, Barter Island, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

860-287320 - Hotel with yurts, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287302 - Horses running in a group in the water, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287309 - Mongol woman traditionnaly dressed with a horse, Mode, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287289 - Gelada or Gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada), adult female with a baby, Debre Libanos, Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Africa

860-287355 - Polar Bear( Ursus maritimus ) walking along a barrier island outside Kaktovik, Every fall, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) gather near Kaktovik on the northern edge of ANWR, Barter Island, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

860-287316 - Mongolians traditionnaly dressed on a horse, traditional exercise of address, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287319 - Mongolians traditionnaly dressed on a horse, traditional exercise of address, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287314 - Mongol on a horse, with a catch lasso, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287372 - African wattled lapwing (Vanellus senegallus), also known as the Senegal wattled plover or simply wattled lapwing, mating, Chobe river, Chobe National Park, Bostwana

860-287274 - Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Kruger National park, South Africa

860-287264 - Aerial view of Basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, and kayak. is the second-largest living shark, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark. Adults typically reach 6?8 m (20?26 ft) in length. The gill rakers, dark and bristle-like, are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. Despite their large size and threatening appearance, basking sharks are not aggressive and are harmless to humans. The basking shark has long been a commercially important fish, as a source of food, shark fin, animal feed, and shark liver oil. Overexploitation has reduced its populations to the point where some have disappeared and others need protection England

860-287292 - Gelada or Gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada), group of females with babies, Debre Libanos, Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Africa

860-287287 - Overnight stay in a small cottage in northern Quebec.

860-287296 - Mongolian traditionnaly dressed with horses running in a group in the water, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287363 - African bush elephant or African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), around a water hole, Nxai pan national park, Bostwana

860-287362 - African bush elephant or African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), around a water hole, Nxai pan national park, Bostwana

860-287315 - Mongolians traditionnaly dressed on a horse, traditional exercise of address, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China

860-287376 - Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris), group drinking, Moremi National Park, Bostwana

860-287369 - Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus), at the sunset, Chobe river, Chobe National Park, Bostwana

860-287374 - Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) drinking, Savuti National Park, Bostwana

860-287370 - Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) comes to eat as well as African vultures (Gyps africanus) an African savanna Elephant or Savannah Elephant (Loxodonta africana), killed, killed by anthrax, Chobe river, Chobe National Park,Bostwana

860-287371 - African wattled lapwing (Vanellus senegallus), also known as the Senegal wattled plover or simply wattled lapwing, Chobe river, Chobe National Park, Bostwana

860-287364 - African bush elephant or African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), near the water hole, Savuti National Park, Bostwana

860-287306 - Mongolian woman with her horse, Bashang Grassland, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, China