nature +

Sure, he’s poisonous, but just look at that cheeky smile. 🔎

The Dalmatian pelican holds the title for the largest pelican species and could be considered the biggest freshwater bird worldwide. 🔎

This vibrantly colored fish produces a distinctive ‘chop’ sound as it employs its namesake beak to scrape algae from the reef. 🔎

This brown pelican chose a great spot to perch in. 🔎

Despite their name, Green Turtle shells are not actually green. The name comes from the greenish color of their fat, which is caused by their diet of seagrasses and algae. The shells of green turtles are typically a mixture of brown, olive, and black. 🔎

In schools of hundreds, these charismatic fish almost seem to change their color at will. 🔎

After taking a breath, this Hawksbill prepares to dive back down. Hawksbills are unique sea turtles with long beaks, and two claw-like protrusions on each flipper. 🔎

Closely related to archosaurs, paleontologists constantly debate the relationship between turtles and their dinosaur, avian and crocodilian cousins. 🔎

These plant-esque growths on coral disappear when touched, and inspired the Helicoradian plants in Avatar (2009). 🔎

The Warawara, or Crested Caracara, is a scavenger that frequents the North Coast and Bandabou on Curaçao. On the island’s arid North Coast (Noordkust) these birds perch on tall cacti. 🔎

Long thought to be plants, sponges are an ancient group of animals, and have been around for more than 543 million years. 🔎

The brown pelican is the national bird of Saint Martin, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the official state bird of Louisiana. 🔎

Adult green turtles can weigh as much as 190 kilos—basically a small grand piano with flippers! 🔎

This green turtle chose an unlikely friend for his nap- a moray eel. Green turtles can rest for up to 11 hours each day. 🔎

At the Equator, the daytime period always lasts about 12 hours, regardless of season, and the Sun always rises and sets vertically. The high zenith at solar noon makes these regions the warmest overall on the planet. 🔎

This large reef fish is wholly unafraid of divers, and is usually found in pairs. 🔎

Sunk for decades, this living wreck is host to trumpet fish, blue tangs, surgeonfish, angelfish, eels and many more species. 🔎

A squamate and a theropod dinosaur taking a nap. 🔎

The American flamingo’s preferred habitats are similar to those of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow, brackish coastal lakes. They frequent Curaçao’s salt flats. 🔎

Green iguanas have a white photosensory organ on the top of their heads called the parietal eye. This “eye” has only a rudimentary retina and lens and cannot form images, but is sensitive to changes in light and dark and can detect movement. 🔎

The green iguana is a large lizard and is the largest species in the iguana family. On islands such as Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba, and Grenada, a green iguana’s colour may vary from green to lavender, black, and even reddish brown. 🔎

Even in the middle of summer, snow settles here at the Moosbach lake in Tirol. 🔎

The troupial, national bird of Venezuela, inhabits dry areas like woodlands, gallery forest, dry scrub, plains, and open savanna, where they forage for insects, a wide variety of fruit, small birds and eggs. 🔎