To reach a series of caves dug into a cliff 155 feet above the valley floor, Matt Segal scales a rock face so fragile it often breaks off to the touch. Linked by a ledge, the 800-year-old caves, empty now, may once have stored manuscripts.
On the shore of Canada's Lake Ontario, Zhang enjoyed watching the elegant feathers of mute swans. While feeding, this one opened its wings and gave the photographer the shot he'd hoped for. "My original aim was to capture the swan facing me," he says, "but this angle was good."
A view from 12,000 feet, off the coast of Belize, shows the parts of the system that make the whole. The outer reef breaks the force of the ocean swells. Next comes the white line of coral rubble along the reef crest, then the sandy back reef, and, finally, the lagoon: a maze of sand islets, mangrove cays, and sea grass beds.
Whale sharks gather at the surface off the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. Here, at the upper end of the Mesoamerican Reef, convene the largest known assemblies of whale sharks. The giant fish seem to come for the eggs of spawning bonito. Farther south, off the coast of Belize, whale sharks are drawn to the white clouds of eggs released by huge aggregations of spawning dog snappers, mutton snappers, and cubera snappers.
Climbers and scientists follow a trail above the Kali Gandaki River in Nepal’s remote Mustang region. More than 60 feet above are rows of unexplored man-made caves dug centuries ago. There may be thousands in the region.
Source: National Geographic
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