20080401
April 01, 2008
Longnose Hawkfish, Namena Island, Fiji, 2004
Photograph by Tim Laman
Longnose hawkfish, like this brightly patterned creature resting in a bed of soft coral off Fiji Island's Namena Island, are tropical marine fish known for their needle-like snouts and striking red-and-white scales. The fish's common name originates from its hawklike habit of perching on the high ground of reefs, where it surveys its surroundings for predator or prey.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Fiji's Rainbow Reefs," November 2004, National Geographic magazine)

20080402
April 02, 2008
Aurora Borealis, Acadia National Park, Maine, 2005
Photograph by Michael Medford
Nature's light show—aurora borealis—bathes Maine's Acadia National Park in a pink glow. These dazzling patterns in nature, called aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere, are created when charged particles outside the Earth's atmosphere collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere, producing a glowing display of curtains, arcs, and bands stretching across the sky.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Autumn in Acadia National Park," November 2005, National Geographic magazine)

20080403
April 03, 2008
Just-Hatched Froglets, Papua New Guinea, 2001
Photograph by George Grall
Carrying out his fatherly duty, a male Oreophryne frog in Papua, New Guinea, guards his clutch and two newly hatched froglets that rest atop the egg mass. Like many of the Microhylidae family, these frogs bypass the tadpole stage, developing fully within the egg. Male frogs embrace their clutch each night to keep the eggs moist and protect them from predators such as insects.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Fragile World of Frogs," May 2001, National Geographic magazine)

20080404
April 04, 2008
Yawning Cheetah, Okavango Delta, Botswana, 1999
Photograph by Chris Johns
The world's fastest land animal takes a moment to relax with a yawn on Botswana's Okavango Delta. The teeth of these fleet-footed predators are too small to use as daggers for large kill, but the cats have strong jaws that lock around the throat of prey until the victim stops breathing.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Cheetahs: Ghosts of the Grasslands," December 1999, National Geographic magazine)

20080405
April 05, 2008
Lights on Street, Key West, Florida, 1999
Photograph by Jim Richardson
Headlights leave a stream of light in a time-exposed photograph of a busy Key West street. Key West is also known as the Conch Republic, a reference to a mock secession the island staged in protest of an April 23, 1982, roadblock the U.S. Border Patrol set up en route to Key West. When complaints that the roadblock hurt tourism went unanswered, the island's mayor declared the Keys' independence from the U.S.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "South to the Keys," January/February 1999, National Geographic Traveler magazine)

20080406
April 06, 2008
Blue Mosque, Iran, 1999
Photograph by Alexandra Avakian
A tranquil reflecting pool mirrors a blue-tiled mosque in Iran. An Islamic republic since the country's autocratic monarchy was overthrown in 1978, Iran is ruled by a supreme religious leadership that controls most aspects of Iranian society. But a youthful populace—70 percent of Iranians are under 30—with increasing access to Western media is beginning to push against its boundaries.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Iran: Testing the Waters of Reform," July 1999, National Geographic magazine)

20080407
April 07, 2008
River Boats, Sitlakhya River, Bangladesh, 1993
Photograph by James P. Blair
A canoe glides past fishing boats at dusk on Bangladesh's flood-swollen Sitlakhya River. Notched into eastern India, this predominantly Muslim nation is a dominated by water, with the Bay of Bengal to the south, mighty rivers throughout, and seasonal monsoon and cyclones that flood up to a third of the country every year.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Bangladesh: When the Water Comes," June 1993, National Geographic magazine)

20080408
April 08, 2008
Leopard Seal With a Penguin, Antarctic Peninsula, 2006
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
Photographer Paul Nicklen watched as this 12-foot-long (3.7-meter-long) female leopard seal toyed with her catch, a live penguin chick. "She dropped it on my camera," he said. "Then she opened her mouth and engulfed the camera—and most of my head. After 45 minutes of more threats, she finally relaxed and ate."
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Deadly Beauty," November 2006, National Geographic magazine)

20080409
April 09, 2008
Workers Planting Rice, India, 2003
Photograph by William Albert Allard
Women from India's so-called Untouchable caste plant rice in a large field. Consigned by birth to the lowest social strata, Untouchables number some 160 million, about 15 percent of India's people. Considered impure by Hindu law, they are generally permitted to perform only the most menial jobs.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Untouchable," June 2003, National Geographic magazine)

20080410
April 10, 2008
Whale's Tail, Frederick Sound, Alaska, 1999
Photograph by Michael Melford
Commercial hunting of humpback whales, like this one flashing its flukes in Alaska's Frederick Sound, reduced their population to just a few thousand worldwide in the 1960s. But an international whaling ban has helped them rebound, and new census numbers show the North Pacific population alone could be more than 10,000 and possibly as many as 25,000.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "A Wilder Passage," May/June 1999, National Geographic Traveler magazine)

20080411
April 11, 2008
Port Royal Golf Course, Southampton, Bermuda, 1971
Photograph by Emory Kristof
With the sea itself for a water hazard, the 8th hole—a challenging par three—tests vacationing golf buffs and visiting pros. Beyond the green, the two tones of ocean water mark shoals near shore and greater depths to seaward.
Northernmost coral isles in the world, the Bermudas sprawl atop a seamount that climbs from the ocean floor 16,000 feet [4,877 meters] below. Barely breaking the surface in many places, the low-profiled islands nowhere rise more than 260 feet [80 meters] above sea level.
(Photo and caption from "Bermuda—Balmy, British, and Beautiful," July 1971, National Geographic magazine)

20080412
April 12, 2008
Green Mountain Sunset, Vermont, 1998
Photograph by Michael Yamashita
The Green Mountains glow as a rose-colored sunset descends on a far corner of Vermont known as the Northeast Kingdom. This region, known simply as "the Kingdom" by Vermonters, is famous for its maple syrup, covered bridges, ski slopes, and the riot of fall colors that blankets its woodlands each September.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Vermont: Suite of Seasons," September 1998, National Geographic magazine)

确实有气魄！剑指天山西峰 马踏黑海北岸。贝加尔湖张弓 库页荒岛赏雪。

20080414
April 14, 2008
Karo Woman, Omo Valley, Ethiopia, 2000
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
A woman from the Karo tribe, with customary short braided hair, looks through the doorway of a mud building in Ethiopia's Omo Valley. With under a thousand members, the Karo are the smallest of the valley's four main tribes.
Karo men and women are known for their ritual scarification. Men scar their chests to represent rivals killed from enemy tribes; women with scarred chests are considered sensual and attractive.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Enigma of Beauty," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)