盲眼小龙虾 Albino Crayfish, Sims Sink, Florida

北弗罗里达Sims Sink漆黑的深水里，一只晶莹剔透的盲眼小龙虾正在游动。在这个无光的世界中，只有深海含水层与落水洞，犹如坠入淡水迷宫一般。这些甲壳类动物是少数几种能适应此种环境的物种，它们属于地区性生物，仅存在于少数含水层中，在世界上的其他地方都未曾发现。
Photograph by Wes C. Skiles
A blind, albino crayfish swims through the inky depths of Sims Sink in northern Florida. These colorless crustaceans are among the few creatures that have adapted to the lightless world at the bottom of the region’s aquifers, springs, and sinkholes. Many species who make their homes in these freshwater labyrinths are endemic to only a handful of aquifers and are found nowhere else in the world.
一群刺螫水母 School of Sea Nettles, Monterey, California

在加州的蒙特利湾水族馆，一群刺螫水母(sea nettles)正演绎着婀娜多姿的水下芭蕾。Chrysaora fuscescens是水母的一种，发现于阿拉斯加到加州间的沿海水域。这种无脊椎动物身后拖着长长的布满刺细胞的触角和多褶的口腕，可捕猎水中的浮游生物和小鱼。
Photograph by Peter Essick
In the midst of an underwater ballet, a school of sea nettles drifts through California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium. Chrysaora fuscescens is a type of jellyfish found in coastal waters from Alaska to California. The invertebrate hunts by trailing its long sting-cell-covered tentacles and ruffled mouth-arms through the water, combing for zooplankton and larval fishes.
“911”安慰犬 9/11 Comfort Dog, New York City

图中这只金毛是纽约那些不太出名的犬类英雄中的一员，它们帮助人们缓解“911”的恐怖袭击造成的痛苦，被称为“安慰犬”(注)。与搜救犬相仿，安慰犬常前往灾难现场以协助救援工作。据研究表明，当人们爱抚宠物的时候，可以产生降低心率和血压等生理变化。

Photograph by Ira Block
The lesser known of New York’s canine heroes, comfort dogs, such as this golden retriever, help soothe those affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Similar to search-and-rescue dogs, comfort dogs travel to disaster scenes to aid relief efforts. Studies show that people experience physiological changes-such as a drop in heart rate and blood pressure-when they pet animals.
兔鼠 Viscacha, Atacama Desert, Chile

在智利的阿塔卡马沙漠，一只兔鼠正在石头上小憩，它是南美栗鼠的近亲。这些睡眼惺忪的食草动物在阿塔卡马沙漠过着幸福的生活，他们居住在沙漠里又高又干燥的地区里，这点是没有几种动物可以做到。兔鼠就靠着当地稀疏的植被与草地生活，在这片严峻的沙漠上一代代地延续下去。
Photograph by Joel Sartore
A vizcacha, close relative of the chinchilla, rests on an outcropping in Chile’s Atacama Desert. These sleepy-eyed herbivores are among few species who thrive in the higher, drier regions of the Atacama. They make their living off the sparse vegetation and grasses that manage to grow in this forbidding desert.