Top Stories
Stories in Earth that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
Water
It’s raining today. Don’t ask me why, I just want it to continue. I live in Tasmania on two-hundred-acres of virgin bush. The wildlife frolic freely here, no hunters allowed, and even the vermin can make you smile, but the rain, the rain never came when the tanks were empty. It never came when the lake dried up. It never came when my mouth craved its cool wet intrusion. Yes, in Tasmania, the rain never came, but it is here today.
By Karen Eastland 5 years ago in Earth
Where's Your Toe?
Shopping for Shoes If there is one thing I absolutely, positively, 100% can’t stand to do, it’s buy new shoes. I don’t know why, but the thought of walking into a Target and heading for the shoe section makes my heartbeat rise and my palms sweaty. I must have had some kind of bad experience as a kid which I’ve since blocked out of my memory. Probably waiting endlessly for my picky older brother to decide on a pair that he liked. When I do buy new shoes these days, which is never more often than once a year, I grab the first pair that is 9 ½ and buy it. I definitely do not try them on. My mom’s standing over my shoulder in my mind’s eye: “Try these on Eric. Try this pair. Oh, how about this pair? Test it, Eric. Walk around a bit. No, farther than that. Where’s your toe? Is that your toe? Are you sure? Where’s your toe?”
By Eric Dovigi5 years ago in Earth
In It Together. Created with: Untamed Photographer.
View print sizes for In It Together by Melissa Groo: Story Behind the Photograph: In It Together The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland, straddling the borders of Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia--with Brazil containing the lion's share. This tropical wetland soaks up the rainfall of the rainy season, turning from a purely terrestrial setting into a snaking waterway dotted with land masses. The dry season takes this overfilled-sponge of land and provides water when the rains are long gone, slowly using up and eventually squeezing just about all the water out of the land. The Pantanal’s biodiversity is vast; the bird diversity alone of the Pantanal is staggering: 700 species.
By Melissa Groo5 years ago in Earth
Misunderstood Predators. Created with: Untamed Photographer.
View print sizes for Misunderstood Predators by Brian Moghari: Story Behind the Photograph: Misunderstood Predators I grew up surfing at a beach notoriously known for having sharks and lots of them. New Smyrna Beach Florida is best known for being the shark bite capitol of the world and knowing sharks like Great Hammerheads were just beneath the surface petrified me. There was not a day that I surfed there and did not see a shark in the water. Spinners. Black tips. But back then, the idea of intentionally diving with sharks was out of the question, that was until I began to understand their role as the oceans’ top apex predators. Sharks remove the dead, the dying, and the diseased. They are key to cleaning our oceans, making them stronger and healthier, yet humans continue decimating shark populations. As a wildlife photographer and filmmaker, my responsibility is to accurately illustrate wild animals and the ecological issues they face, including sharks. To fulfill this responsibility I needed to become more comfortable with them and overcome my childhood fear.
By Brian Moghari5 years ago in Earth
Among Asters. Created with: Untamed Photographer.
View print sizes for Among Asters by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: Among Asters The ocean reaches many arms to embrace the land. Long, graceful fingers of saltwater stretch to meet fresh, flowing rivers. River and ocean mingle to make brackish water. Ocean breathes the tide in, and out, in, and out. Hiding and then revealing the shore’s secrets with each ebb and flood. We call these places estuaries.
By April Bencze5 years ago in Earth
Everest. Created with: Untamed Photographer.
View print sizes for Everest by Arati Kumar-Rao: Story Behind the Photograph: Everest I was heading due west, from the kingdom of Bhutan in the Indian subcontinent to the capital of India, New Delhi. Having made sure I had an “F” window seat on the plane, away from the wing, camera at the ready, I prayed for clear skies (and a clear window pane) and kept my eyes peeled. From the moment we took off till we begin to descend two-and-a-half hours later, the Great Himalayan range unfolded in front of my eyes.
By Arati Kumar-Rao5 years ago in Earth
My Green Home
For my Wave Makers challenge, I chose to break down my home and our “green” habits. Allow me to begin by saying that we, my household and I, are not a 100% super green, eco-friendly home. We aren't, but the title isn't a lie either. More or less, we live by the ideology that if we don't need it, we don't use it and that if it's not safe enough to be recycled or broken down, then we don't need to be using it at all. With this in mind, we still have wasteful tendencies to an extent, but we try to make a difference in our choices to help out our beautiful planet.
By Rain Dayze5 years ago in Earth
Milkyway Over Mangroves. Created with: Untamed Photographer.
View print sizes for Milkyway Over Mangroves by Arati Kumar-Rao: Story Behind the Photograph: Milkyway Over Mangroves Night falls like a black hood over the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans. Straddling the border between Bangladesh and India, this beautiful forest (which is likely where it gets its name from — Sundar, meaning beautiful, ban, meaning forest) is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, saltwater crocodiles, all manner of snakes, crustaceans, river sharks, and a few million crab-catchers, fishers, and honey hunters.
By Arati Kumar-Rao5 years ago in Earth
Majestic Manta. Created with: Untamed Photographer.
View print sizes for Majestic Manta by Brian Moghari: Story Behind the Photograph: Majestic Manta I’ve spent hundreds of hours filming and photographing in our oceans, and every once in a while something truly unexpected happens. In 2019, I was filming whale sharks near Isla Mujeres Mexico for National Geographic’s first ever live VR shark experience. In this particular area, hundreds of millions of eggs from the fish known as the Little Tunny are released into the food chain, attracting whale sharks throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. This spawning alone is responsible for the world’s largest whale shark aggregation which was scientifically discovered only a decade before in 2009.
By Brian Moghari5 years ago in Earth
