This Month in Photo of the Day: Animal Pictures

A cute crabeater seal peeked out at us from behind a piece of snow but wasn't bothered by our presence. I think he was just as curious as we were. He didn't move except to look at us and stretch. Sun was shimmering on his fur and the ice and snow he was laying on. It was the trip of a lifetime with the family, December 2011. Took this while Zodiac cruising in Cierva Cove, Antarctica, with Lindblad Expeditions on the National Geographic Explorer.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.)

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This Month in Photo of the Day: Animal Pictures

Elephants roam the Serengeti under a stormy sky in this photo by Michael ?Nick? Nichols, who sent dispatches from the field as he shot a story for National Geographic magazine.

See more pictures from Michael "Nick" Nichols's Project: Serengeti Lions, part of an ongoing series documenting the work of photographers in the field.

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This Month in Photo of the Day: Animal Pictures

Meet Smasher?the male in the background. That's the name Steve Winter gave this youngster, cooling off in a watering hole in Bandhavgarh National Park, after he slapped the automated camera trap until it stopped clicking. Both tigers are thought to have killed people, and Smasher is now in captivity.

See more pictures from the December 2011 feature story ?A Cry for the Tiger.?

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This Month in Photo of the Day: Animal Pictures

A foot-long crayfish dodges a hiker fording a stream in Australia's Claustral Canyon. The color of these crayfish, called yabbies by canyoneers, remains a puzzle. In some streams they're orange. In others they're blue. The difference is due partly to water purity?the blue ones are found in the clearest water.

See more pictures from the October 2011 feature story ?Deep Down Under.?

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This Month in Photo of the Day: Animal Pictures

The golden light at dusk and dawn in the Kalahari is amazing and can enhance the mood of a scene greatly. On this particular morning in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the rising sun was filtered by an ancient forest of camel thorn acacia trees, with a herd of springbok gazelles in attendance to complete the scene.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.)

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