Light tan streamers snake across Chandeleur Sound in this detailed natural color satellite image from May 5, 2010. The streamers are probably ropes of oil from a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Barrier islands are found along the edge of every continent except Antarctica, and in 2011 scientists and naturalists are still finding new ones, including this chain along the equatorial coast of Brazil.
On most summer days, a trip to North Carolina’s Outer Banks means a peaceful day at the beach, but there is evidence all around that this beach is not always so serene.
The Dry Tortugas are a group of islands located approximately 75 miles west of Key West, Florida; they form the western end of the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico. This astronaut photograph highlights three islands in the group: Bush Key, Hospital Key, and Garden Key, which is the site of Fort Jefferson, a Civil War-era fort.