Ferry, Boat Quay, Financial District beyond, Singapore, South East Asia

Ferries, Boat Quay, Financial District beyond, Singapore, South East Asia

Tourist boats on backwater near Mobor, Goa, India

A dawn Zodiac tour of Boatswain Bird Island just off Ascension Island in the southern tropical Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near glacial run-off in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Aerial of a cruise ship anchoring in Wulaia Bay, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, South America

Views of the Vasilievbreen (Vasiliev Glacier), in Isbukta (Ice Bay) near the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway, Arctic, Europe

A view of the expedition ship Ulla Rinman operating in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Aerial of a little ship floating between the ice below the Eqi glacier, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Guests from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer at Hornsund (Horn Sound) in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Guests from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer at Hornsund (Horn Sound) in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Guest from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer holding ice in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Guest from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer holding up a block of ice in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near a glacier in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Amy Cadge, staff member from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer taking a photograph with a camera in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

CT Ticknor, staff member from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer using binoculars in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer at Austfonna in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near Cape Fanshawe in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer at Austfonna in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer running Zodiac operations in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Guests from the Lindblad Expeditions ship National Geographic Sea Bird during Zodiac operations in Tracy Arm, Southeast Alaska, United States of America, North America

The Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer pushing through ice in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Aerial of the Ilulissat Icefjord, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Aerial of a boat between the icebergs of the Ilulissat Icefjord, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Aerial of a boat between the icebergs of the Ilulissat Icefjord, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Expedition zodiacs, Axel Heiberg island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

Iceberg on Belcher island, Devon island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

Aerial of an ice arch in the Nuuk Icefjord, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Icebreaker in the fog, Dunes harbour, Devon island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

Views of the abandoned whaling station in Prince Olav Harbor on South Georgia, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

Adult light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) on the wing in Elsehul on South Georgia, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

Adelie penguin losing down feathers on ice, Antarctica, Polar Regions

View of Roald Amundsen monument sculpture at The Fram Museum, Bygdoynesveien, Oslo, Norway, Scandinavia, Europe

An adult polar bear (Ursus maritimus) swimming and hauling itself onto ice floe in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Aerial of a little ship floating between the ice below the Eqi glacier, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Fish trawler between the icebergs of the Ilulissat Icefjord, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Little boat between the icebergs of the Ilulissat Icefjord, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Western Greenland, Denmark, Polar Regions

Rocky beach, Beechey island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

Views of the Catholic church at the Chilean research base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, Antarctica, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

Antarctic tern (Sterna vittata), on the wreck of the Guvernoren in the Enterprise Islands, Antarctica, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

Cruise ship anchoring in Wulaia Bay, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, South America

An adult red-footed booby (Sula sula), in its white color morph plumage in flight over the ocean in Palau, Micronesia, Pacific

Antarctic tern (Sterna vittata), on the wreck of the Guvernoren in the Enterprise Islands, Antarctica, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

View of calm seas and reflected mountains surrounding Paradise Bay on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, Polar Regions

Views of the wreck of the Guvernoren, a 20th century whale processing ship, in the Enterprise Islands, Antarctica, Polar Regions

Icebergs near the Antarctic Peninsula during the summer months, Antarctica, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

View of tidewater glacier cave found deep inside Neko Harbor on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, Polar Regions

Expedition ship The Bremen operating from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica, Polar Regions

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Adult male leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) with Lindblad Expeditions guest in Zodiac

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) spy-hopping near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Soft coral colonies (Dendronephthya sp.) and diver. Komodo, Indonesia, Pacific Ocean.

Giant frogfish (Antennarius commersoni) and diver. Cannibal Rock, Horseshoe Bay, Rinca Island, near Komodo, Indonesia.

Freediver and WWII plane wreck. Yap, Federated States of Micronesia, Pacific Ocean. More info: This is the tail of a Japanese bomber shot down over Yap during the summer of 1944 by U.S. planes.

The Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Adult male leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) with Lindblad Expeditions guest in Zodiac

Images of the rescue of 154 people from the sinking expedition ship Explorer in Antarctica

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) spy-hopping near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Adult humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near the Antarctic Peninsula

Guests from the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Endeavour kayaking with Adelie penguins on icebergs in and around the Antarctic Peninsula

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) spy-hopping near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Adult humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near the Antarctic Peninsula

The expedition travel ship National Geographic Endeavour and Zodiac working near Spitsbergen in the Barents Sea, Norway.

The Lindblad Expedition ship MS Endeavour in Paradise Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Adult humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near the Antarctic Peninsula

Adult humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near the Antarctic Peninsula

The expedition travel ship National Geographic Endeavour working around the island of Spitsbergen in the Barents Sea, Norway.

Adult humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near the Lindblad Expedition ship National Geographic Explorer near the Antarctic Peninsula

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surfacing near Zodiac near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

A photographer on the bow of the expedition travel ship National Geographic Endeavour photographing the ice leads in the Barents Sea, Norway.

German research icebreaker Polarstern, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Isfjorden, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway, Europe

Tara Oceans Expeditions - May 2011. Tara with deployed plancton nets. On "station", the boat is drifting without engine or sails. Tara Oceans, a unique expedition: Tara Oceans is the very first attempt to make a global study of marine plankton, a form of sea life that includes organisms as small as viruses and bacterias, and as big as medusas. Our goal is to better understand planktonic ecosystems by exploring the countless species, learning about interactions among them and with their environment. Marine plankton is the only ecosystem that is almost continuous over the surface of the Earth. Studying plankton is like taking the pulse of our planet. Recently, scientists have discovered the great importance of plankton for the climate: populations of plankton are affected very rapidly by variations in climate. But in turn they can influence the climate by modifying the absorption of carbon. In a context of rapid physico-chemical changes, for example the acidification observed today in the world's oceans, it is urgent to understand and predict the evolution of these particular ecosystems. Finally, plankton is an astonishing way of going back in time ? a prime source of fossils. Over the eons, plankton has created several hundred meters of sediment on the ocean floors. This allows us to go back in time, to the first oceans on Earth, and better understand the history of our biosphere. More than 12 fields of research are involved in the project, which will bring together an international team of oceanographers, ecologists, biologists, geneticists, and physicists from prestigious laboratories headed by Eric Karsenti of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Galapagos

Tara Oceans Expeditions - May 2011. diving Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus); Isabela Island; Galapagos, Ecuador; The Marine Iguana appears slow and clumsy on land, but this particular species of lizard is the only sea-going lizard in the world. However, it has to return the the land to breed.