AROUND THE WORLD

Baboon, Bronx Zoo

Photograph by Richard Conde,

A baboon in the Bronx Zoo, New York

Red Foxes, Connecticut

Photograph by Kevin LeShane,

Recently, a red fox has been hunting in the marsh behind my condo on the Connecticut shoreline. I've seen her during the early morning hours when I walk my dog and on my way to work. I thought it strange to see a traditionally circumspect creature in such a public venue. These two are the explanation, it turns out. She and her two kits (featured here) have a den within the boulders of the seawall by the town docks. Every day they become more curious of their enraptured audience, us.

Manta Ray, Maldives

Photograph by Michel Braunstein,

Each year lunar tides and Indian Ocean monsoon currents combine to drive plankton and tropical krill into confined bays around the islands of the Maldives. These protein-packed waters invite large concentrations of manta rays to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Despite their large size, with wingspans stretching up to 12 feet (3.6 meters), as many as 200 mantas may pack a football field-sized bay during these feeding frenzies.

Spanish Dancer Nudibranch

Photograph by David Doubilet, National Geographic

There are more than 3,000 known nudibranch species, and scientists estimate there are another 3,000 yet to be discovered. So-called Spanish dancers, like this one off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, boast some distinctions over other nudibranchs: First, they can be enormous, reaching a foot and a half (46 centimeters) long. Most nudibranchs are finger-size. Second, it can swim, a skill most of its cousins lack.

Elephant

Photograph by Tess Sager,

Once you blow into their trunks they remember you forever

Cranes

Mosaic Jellyfish

Photograph by Melissa Fiene,

A mosaic jellyfish floats serenely in the waters of the Coral Sea, about 100 nautical miles from Cairns, Australia. Jellyfish are ubiquitous in the Earth’s oceans. They can thrive in warm water and cold, along coastlines or out in the deep. Their bodies are about 95 percent water. And though they have no brains, jellyfish have somehow been smart enough to survive for over 500 million years

Cheetahs, Kenya

Photograph by Mauro Mozzarelli,

Most wild cheetahs are found in eastern and southwestern Africa. Perhaps only 12,000 of these big cats remain, and those are under pressure as the wide-open grasslands they favor are disappearing at the hands of human settlers