Photograph by Tim Laman
Cabbage coral provides refuge to a bigeye fish in Great Astrolabe Reef off Fiji's Kadavu Island. More than 330 islands speckle Fijian waters, which hold nearly 4,000 square miles (10,350 square kilometers) of reef, a vital trove of marine biodiversity.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Fiji's Rainbow Reefs," November 2004, National Geographic magazine)
Photograph by Tim Laman
Without a strobe light to animate its riot of colors, this Fijian reef in 45 feet (14 meters) of water remains as a fish would see it. Red light, with its longer wavelengths, dissipates at about 30 feet (10 meters), leaving smoky blues and muted yellows to dominate.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: Why Are Coral Reefs So Colorful?" May 2005, National Geographic magazine)
Photograph by Tim Laman
Two pink anemonefish peek from the safety of their anemone home on a reef off Micronesia's Kosrae Island. The island's remoteness and a concerted effort by locals to preserve marine wildlife there endows Kosrae with some of the most pristine reefs on Earth.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Mangroves: Forests of the Tide," February 2007, National Geographic magazine)
Photograph by Brian Skerry
A young harp seal tests the frigid waters in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. Once the object of a bitter controversy between sealers and animal-welfare groups, import restrictions on their pelts and Canadian laws protecting seal pups have helped populations of these charismatic sea mammals recover.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Harp Seals: The Hunt for Balance," March, 2004, National Geographic magazine)
