September 29, 2024

This week’s Photo of the Week shows an Amazon dolphin rising, and a giant catfish swimming through an untouched aquatic paradise. Plus, a popular—and undercover--look at a colony of wild honeybees.

Iconic: Rosy pink body, melon head, and toothy smiling snout. The pink Amazon river dolphin is among the attractions for visitors; this one is waiting for a fish handout from a local tourism operator—a controversial practice because it increases the animal’s reliance on humans. Nat Geo Explorer Thomas Peschak dove beneath the dolphin, to the dark-as-night riverbed, to make this image.

Related: How the Amazon is replenished 
From the archives: There is often a dark side to wildlife tourism 

Paradise undisturbed: Look at the eyes of this 6-foot-long catfish as it glides past Thomas Peschak in Bolivia’s Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory. It has the girth of a potbellied pig, Peschak says in wonder. “They’ve got these big expression-full eyes.”

Related: Untouched-- ‘No one knows this place’
Also: Nat Geo Explorer Josh West on water’s life-sustaining power in the Amazon 

Secret lives: Tucked in this tree truck is a universe of wild honeybees. Their story has been a hugely popular feature. Where is this?  

A. Croatia
B. Germany 
C. Romania
D. Turkey 

Related: What’s all this about bees and Angelina Jolie? 

Today’s Soundtrack: (Who Discovered) America? Ozomatli 

Thanks for opening today’s Photo of the Week, which was edited and curated by David Beard and produced by Alec Egamov. Like what you see? Get this in your inbox next Sunday.