Discovery

Experience Yellowstone National Park From All Angles American Bison (often called buffalo) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

The collection of images in this gallery run the range from my most recent trip with Shane [Dr. Shane Doyle, Apsaálooke and Educational Cultural Consultant], to some of my favorite images from my earliest days as a photographer. Even for me as an individual, the park has a multi-decade meaning, and I contemplate what its future really can be.

No matter how many times I come back here, I am always mesmerized by the color of the thermal features.

Remember to stay on the trail, these can be dangerous, albeit beautiful natural wonders.

Stormy skies over Mammoth Hot Springs upper terrace, Yellowstone National Park.

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Pronghorn in snow. Pronghorn conservation in the Yellowstone ecosystem is a major component of the National Parks Conservation Associations work here.

Grand Prismatic and tourists during summer. Photographed in 2013.

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Revealing the Ancient Rock Art of the Mojave Conservationist and nature photographer Ian Shive takes Mojave National Preserve in California to share with the ancient art that adorns the rocks throughout the desert. Watch his journey unfold in the latest episode of Nature in Focus.

800-1000 years ago this area was still volcanically active, which means the formations and shapes and geology of the area was most likely encountered by the people who inhabited this region going back 2,000 years. What did they experience and did it influence the rock art on the walls?

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Light rays pass from the surface into the subterranean Cima lava tube. This cave is incredibly special, but getting there at the right time of day is key to seeing the rays of light.

Check out the past episode of Nature in Focus where we first experience this phenomenon.

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Celebrate International Whale Shark Day with these Beautiful Giants International Whale Shark Day is August 30! They are the largest fish in the world and the largest fish known to have lived on this planet. The largest accurately measured whale shark was 61.7 feet (18.8 m). Georgia Aquarium has two whale sharks in their Ocean Voyager habitat, Yushan and Taroko, both are males. Whale Sharks are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Specific threats to whale sharks include entanglement in fishing nets,

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boat strikes, ingestion of marine debris and micro plastics, and in some cases human interference through unregulated tourism. Whale sharks are usually found in the tropical Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans between about 30 degrees North and 35 degrees South.

Georgia Aquarium has been researching whale sharks for more than 15 years. Their researchers have studied whale shark migration, overall health, and more in places like Mexico, St. Helena Island, Indonesia, and the Galapagos! Having whale sharks in the daily care of Georgia Aquarium has helped them study this species much more in depth than in the wild.

Whale sharks may look intimidating due to their size, but they can only swallow small prey because its throat is very narrow, often compared to the size of a quarter.

Whale sharks filter food from the water by “cross-flow filtration,” this means water is directed away through the gills while particles carry on towards the back of the mouth.

Whale sharks have multiple feeding methods: active suction feeding and vertical suction feeding. At Georgia Aquarium whale sharks are fed in the active suction-type feeding style, while following feeding ladles along the surface. The top jaw typically breaks the surface creating a strong suction and bringing in large volumes of water.

Whale sharks usually swim at a speed of 2.9 mph. When alarmed, they have been observed to accelerate for very short bursts, but they cannot sustain fast swimming for long.

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Let’s Celebrate Our Amphibian Friends!

From pets to desert dwellers, lizard’s come in various shapes and sizes and can be almost anywhere in the world. Surviving in all types of environments lizards are stronger than most would believe. We’d like to show our love for the four-legged snake in celebration of national lizard day (August 14) with eight lizard facts you may not know.

There are more than 6,000 different lizard species!

The vast amount of lizards around the world can be found almost everywhere! The largest species of lizard is the Skinks with over 1,300 different species.

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Taste that smell in air?

Lizards can smell by tasting the air around them. This is why they are often seen with their tongues going in and out at a rapid pace.

Lizards come in all shapes and sizes!

The Komodo Dragon is the largest lizard in the world - it can grow up to 10-11ft. While the smallest lizard is a The Brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon, has a body of just 13.5mm.

Living Dinosaurs There is evidence that Lizards have been on Earth for more than 200 million years. It is believed that some of them used to be as large as the dinosaurs. A walking dinosaur like the New Zealand Tuatara can live up to 100 years.

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Moths: One of the Most Diverse Species in the Insect Kingdom Moths are found everywhere from the seaside to the tops of mountains. To celebrate National Moth Week (July 17–25), we’ve rounded up seven interesting facts about what makes moths so unique.

Moths outnumber butterflies 9 to 1.

Scientists have already discovered more than 135,000 species of moths, but experts predict there are still at least 100,000 moth species that remain undiscovered.

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Male moths have great senses of smell — they can sniff out a female from more than seven miles away.

Moths don’t have noses, but they can detect odor molecules using their antennae.

Moths are an important food source for many animals.

Due to moths’ abundance, they play an important role at the bottom of the food chain. Birds, bats, lizards, rodents, and even bears feed on moths.

Some moths don’t have mouths.

The luna moth doesn’t have a mouth, so it cannot eat. It can only survive for one week, and lives for the sole purpose of mating and laying eggs.

Moths like beer.

Moths are also attracted to light bulbs and bananas.

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Meet the Pollinators that Change the World Happy National Pollinators Week! This week is dedicated to highlighting and bringing awareness to the many animals and insects that play a key role in the pollination process.

Without many of these creatures, plants around the world wouldn’t be able to grow and spread. We have these critters to thank for pollination, the transferring of pollen from one plant to another. Pollen from one plant becomes attached to pollinators and as they go flower to flower, they spread and mix pollen. This fertilizes the plants and allows them to create seeds, starting the cycle over with new budding flowers.

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Honey Bee

European Bee

Bees are the number one pollinator on the planet Ranging from 5,000 different species, Honey Bee’s are the most common and ‘hardest’ working bees. Honey Bee’s work in colonies that have structures made of a queen bee, who make sureit’s the growth of the hive, worker bee’s, who retrieve pollen for the hive, and drone bee’s, who protect the queen and hive.

The European Bee is one of the most common bumble bees in the world. They have a bad reputation of being aggressive and are not favored by beekeepers. Even though they are great pollinators for their hive-making skills and swarm numbers, they do attack when they feel threatened.

Africanized Bees Africanized Bees are the most aggressive species of bees and have a common name of “killer bees’. These bee’s are one of the top pollinators in the bee species. Their massive hives they create and the multitude of bee’s working to bring pollen to the hive.

Fig Wasp Fig wasps are one of the smallest wasp species, as they can grow up to 1.5 mm or 0.006 of an inch. These small insects are great pollinators, as they are the prime pollinators of fig trees. Fig trees require the work and pollination of fig wasps to complete the pollination process. These small insects go unnoticed but have a job unlike any other pollinator.

Pollen Wasps Pollen wasps are one of the few species of wasps that engage in the pollination process. These wasps differ from other species of wasps since they are vegetarians. They replace eating insects as their main source of food with the necstour of followers.

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Best of Georgia Aquarium Georgia Aquarium is home to hundreds of species and thousands of animals across seven galleries and 10 million gallons of water. Take a look at some of our favorite moments from the biggest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere.

THE AQUARIUM, which ran for two seasons on Animal Planet (2019-2020) and provided viewers with a behind the scenes look at Georgia Aquarium, is available in its entirety to stream on discovery+.

Unlike most penguin species, African penguins prefer the warmer climates of Southwestern Africa. You can see the penguins at Georgia Aquarium in the Cold Water Quest gallery.

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Even though Asian small-clawed otters are considered the least aquatic of the otter species, they still typically spend more than half of the day in the water. The Asian small-clawed otters at Georgia Aquarium are in the only freshwater gallery, River Scout.

Common bottlenose dolphins are well known for their intelligence and social nature. Dolphins are typically found in groups, or pods, of 2-15. You can see common bottlenose dolphins at Georgia Aquarium in the Dolphin Coast gallery and the Dolphin Celebration presentation!

The southern sea otter is considered a keystone species because they help maintain the health of kelp forests by preying on sea urchins. One of the Aquarium’s most popular animals, the southern sea otters are in Cold Water Quest where you can see them play with enrichment, swimming, and sometimes sleeping!

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Mount Whitney: A View from the Top Join Conservationist and Nature Photographer Ian Shive as he takes on a personal challenge: summiting the tallest mountain in the lower 48, Mount Whitney.

The trail along the way to the tallest peak in the lower 48 states is a stunningly beautiful journey through the best of California’s Sierra Mountains.

Alpine lakes abound, separating the land from the sky. As we climb higher and higher, oxygen becomes thinner, eventually too thin for even the trees, which is a good indication of your progress along the trail.

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I typically travel on most adventures with my friend Dante Fernandes, who’s idea it was to test our skills on Mt. Whitney. We’ve traveled from the Aleutian Islands to the remote coral atolls of the Pacific, but taking on a challenge in our own backyard was something we had both mused about for awhile. We lucked out, scoring a “lottery” permit, a system designed to prevent overcrowding of the resource, and giving us a chance to climb the mountain on our free time. Mt. Whitney has long been one of the most popular climbs in the country, but people often mistake popularity with safety. It is a rigorous, difficult climb that can result in injury or death. This should not be your first big mountain, but rather a goal to reach after reaching other, smaller mountain summits.

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The Baobab Trees of Madagascar For Arbor Day, learn about one of the world’s oldest giant trees and is the most iconic and valuable plant species in Madagascar — The Baobab Tree.

Generating income through tourism, nutrition and medicine through its fruit and natural water storage ability, the Baobab provides natural resources for local people. Dr. Seheno Andriantsaralaza is a recipient of The Explorers Club Discovery Expedition Grant and she will lead a new study into seed

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dispersal and provide sustainable solutions of this essential resource to benefit future generations in one of the poorest nations in the world.

The Explorers Club, a non-profit world leader in exploration, and Discovery Channel have partnered to create an Explorers Club Discovery Expedition Grant program to further advance significant exploration and scientific discovery.

Baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) in opened areas in western Madagascar

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Meet the Florida Ghost Cat The Nature Conservancy and Carlton Ward got up close and personal with the elusive Florida panther.

Learn how The Nature Conservancy (TNC) protects the lands & waters on which all life depends. Impacting conservation in 72 countries & territories, TNC has grown to become one of the most effective & wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world.

Camera trap image of a Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and on a trail leading into the upper Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.

The Nature Conservancy works to protect land in Florida by partnering with private landowners and state government entities to help preserve wildlife habitat and to help support wildlife corridors.

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Camera trap image of a male Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) from Babcock Ranch State Preserve, part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor interior to Fort Myers.

The Nature Conservancy works to protect land in Florida by partnering with private landowners and state government entities to help preserve wildlife habitat and to help support wildlife corridors.

The Caloosahatchee River at sunset. The Caloosahatchee is a manmade river used for drainage and as a navigational canal between Lake Okeechobee and the Gulf of Mexico near Ft. Myers, Florida. This waterway has been a major barrier against northern migration for the Florida panther population. Male panthers have been swimming across the river for decades, but no female panthers were documented north of the Caloosahatchee between 1973 to 2016. Since November 2016, two female Florida panthers have been captured on game cameras north of the Caloosahatchee, giving hope for the recovery of the species into its northern range.

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Celebrate National Giant Panda Day! Did you know March 16th is National Panda Day? Here are some adorable pandas and some fun facts about them to brighten up your day!

Want even more Pandas? Giant pandas have been a part of the San Diego Zoo since the first two arrived back in 1987. And while there haven’t been any there since 2019, we can still look back and relive their sweetest moments on The Zoo: San Diego.

Pandas are loners and they prefer to have their own space. Although they look super cuddly and friendly, but they are actually very shy animals.

Unlike other bears, panda bears don’t hibernate. The reason behind is that they can’t stop eating. Their main diet, bamboo, prevents them from building fat reserves to last them through the winter. So, when the cold winter approaches, they move lower down from the mountains to warmer temperatures.

Giant pandas are known to be curious and playful. They enjoy playing with toys, puzzles, and performing somersaults.

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The Majestic California Condor Takes Flight Again Without help from conservation groups, there would be no condors left in California. My hope is that with time, condor populations will continue to rise.

The California condor was once extinct in the wild, with only 27 individuals left in captivity as of 1987. From those few individuals, there are more than 500 condors today, both in the wild and in captivity. As a nature photographer, this is one of the most elusive species to photograph and working with the biologists, I’ve had an incredible opportunity to do so.

A California condor lands at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California, where condor recovery work is taking place.

While photographing at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California, a wild condor flew in to inspect the area where biologists with the US Fish & Wildlife Service were working. Their work is part of the multi-decade effort to help this almost extinct species recover.

While photographing at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California, a wild condor flew in to inspect the area where biologists with the US Fish & Wildlife Service were working. Their work is part of the multi-decade effort to help this almost extinct species recover.

A California condor spreads its wing just

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outside the cages where the bioligists conduct their health workups on the birds at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California.

At Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California, there is a caged area where trapped birds rest before a health assesment is done, but capturing a bird is never easy, even within the cage.

I felt like I had just enterd the lions den as I began photographing the effort to capture a condor inside the biologists enclosure. With wingspans approaching 10 feet and an average weight of 25lbs, they can be quite intimidating.

Photographed at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California.

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Big Cat Tales Returns for a Season 2 Get up close and personal with the prides of BIG CAT TALES. Season two returns Friday, December 4 at 11P only on Animal Planet.

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Red Hair, Don’t Care! 10 Ginger Animals Living the Life November 5 is National Redhead Day. Celebrate this red-letter day with some animals that share that very rare ginger hue.

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A Fleeting Moment: Comet NEOWISE Conservationist and nature photographer Ian Shive takes us on a journey to the California desert to capture Comet NEOWISE.

There is something magical, maybe even a bit romantic, to spot a celestial object passing through our night sky, a temporary visitor in an otherwise mostly predictable map of stars. The first time I saw a comet, I was eight years old and had to stand on a stool to look through a neighbors telescope.

I caught a glimpse of the most famous of all comets, Halley’s Comet, while it transversed our sky on an orbit that allows it to visit us Earthlings around once every 75 years.

If I’m lucky enough to live to see the year 2061, when I’ll be 83, I’ll have a chance to see it one final time. And perhaps once again, I’ll need a stool.

It wasn’t until 1995 that I saw my next 30 slow-motion “shooting star”, Comet

Hale-Bopp. I was a young photographer though, and despite it being so visible in the night sky, and even during the day, I never got a photo of it. Two comets, two memories, no photos.

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