On January 16, 2008, Flickr announced the start of an ambitious project called, The Commons. The key goals of The Commons are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world’s public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer. This past January, The…
Gannets are large sea birds that can be found in the North Atlantic as well as the coastal seas of Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The birds fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. The technique, known as plunge diving, allows birds to use the energy…
THE SRI LANKAN LEOPARD Photograph by Rohit Varma on 500px In this beautiful capture by photographer Rohit Varma we see a Sri Lankan leopard in Wilpattu National Park. The Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is a leopard subspecies native to Sri Lanka. Classified as Endangered by IUCN, the population is believed…
The World Photography Organisation just revealed the shortlists for the Professional, Open and Youth categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. In a year that saw over 122,000 entries from 170 countries – the highest number of submissions to date – the judges have selected a shortlist of photographs that stood out beyond…
For the first time in nearly four years of running this site I will be travelling with limited access to Internet (I shuddered just typing that). Thus I am unable to provide the typical Shirk Report you’ve enjoyed for the past 196 weeks. In lieu, I have created a special one-time Animated Animals edition.…
“Under the sun, everyday is a good day. Another good day, Fukumaru” – Misao 12 years ago, Miyoko Ihara started taking photographs of her grandmother, Misao. Miyoko wanted to leave a living proof of her. One day, her grandmother found an odd-eyed kitten in the shed. She named the cat “Fukumaru” in hope…
BEAR WITH ME Photograph by MrAuneeb on Reddit This fantastic close-up was taken by Reddit user MrAuneeb who proclaimed it the best picture he had ever taken. The photo was captured recently at the Columbus Zoo in Powell, Ohio. According to the zoo’s official website, this is one of three Brown/Grizzly bears…
FEASTING VULTURES Photograph by Morkel Erasmus | Prints available In this startling black and white scene we see a group of White-backed Vultures feasting on an elephant that had died of natural causes. Wildlife photographer Morkel Erasmus took this shot in the remote far north of Kruger National Park in South Africa.…
TRANSPARENT EEL LARVA Photograph by Mie Prefecture Fisheries Research Institute In this close-up by the Mie Prefecture Fisheries Research Institute we see the larva of a Conger eel. A leptocephalus (meaning “slim head”) is the flat and transparent larva of the eel, marine eels, and other members of the Superorder Elopomorpha. This…
OWL GET YOU Photograph via The Government of Quebec In this incredible capture we see a Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) about to pounce on its prey. The yellow-eyed, black-beaked, white bird is 52–71 centimetres (20–28 in) long, with a 125–150 centimetres (49–59 in) wingspan. These birds can weigh anywhere from 1.6 to…