Breaking waves and beach along the Pacific Ocean in Yakutat Alaska. The breakpoint bar is under the water but can be located by the line of breaking waves.
A view of a school of goatfish (Mulloidicthys dentatus) swimming above large colonies of massive coral Porites lobata at Clipperton Atoll in the eastern Pacific. If in coming years, pollution or anthropogenic climate change erases scenes such as this from the earth, not only will we lose one of the most fascinatingly beautiful ecosystems on the planet, we will also lose one of our most important tools for understanding how our planet works.