Fifteen More Best Science and Nature Photos of 2019 (Part II)

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  This stunning image of three spinetail devil rays won the Best in Show in the 2018 Ocean Art underwater photography competition (the winners were announced in 2019 so technically it counts!). 

  
  

  
  

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  In 2019, scientists at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa compiled four years worth of observations by the Pan-STARRS observatory in Maui and created this incredible mosaic of the Milky Way. This map is the largest release of astronomical data of all time, and shows over 800 million galaxies, stars and interstellar objects. 

  
  

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  A baby American crocodile as it hatches from it's shell.

  
  

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  This glacier in North Greenland shows how climate change has affected the Earth since the Quaternary period (which started 2.59 million years ago and continues today). In the past, glaciers from Greenland would have crept down through valleys like this one to cover much of Northern Europe and North America. 

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  In 2019, scientists discovered that the Milky Way isn't lying on a flat plane like previously thought; it's actually in a bit of an 'S' shape, with the sides warping where the pull of gravity weakens.

  
  

  
  

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  Are you wondering what this strange blob-like creature is? So were the residents of Sands Beach in Santa Barbara County when it washed ashore. This 7 foot long fish is called a hoodwinker (Mola tecta) and actually belongs to southeastern Australia, South Africa, Chile and New Zealand. This one went a long way from home. 

  
  

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  In 2019, it was discovered that there are two continent-sized blobs on the Earth's mantle. The American Geophysical Union created this GIF, which gives us an unprecedented view of the blobs. One lies far underneath the Pacific Ocean, and the other is under Africa and the Atlantic. 

  
  

  
  

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  This is a Cyerce nigra, a tiny sea slug that is too small to see with the human eye. They are found in the Philippines, and this photo by Bruno Van Saen won the Highly Commended award in the Macro category of the Underwater Photography of the Year 2019 contest. 

  
  

  
  

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  This aerial photograph was taken by Jim Ross and NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, and shows "super bloom" - a rare phenomenon when an unusually high number of wildflower seeds (which have lain dormant for years) bloom at the same time. This super bloom, in Southern California's Antelope Valley, was boosted by the year's wet winter. 

  
  

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  This lively creature is a cassowary; a huge, flightless bird native to Southeast Asia and Australia. Cassowaries are dangerous birds for humans to be around - in 2019, a Florida man was found dead after being attacked by one of his pet cassowaries. Although they can't fly, cassowaries can run up to 31 miles per hour, and their sharp talons paired with powerful legs can deliver deadly kicks. Some even call cassowaries 'living dinosaurs.' 

  
  

  
  

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  You are looking at a 99 million year old millipede (Burmanopetalum inexpectatum) from the Cretaceous period. This little fella avoided being squashed by any dinosaurs, but happened to get stuck in some sap, which turned into amber. 99 million years later, a group of researchers found the tiny corpse preserved perfectly in what is now Southeast Asia. 

  
  

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  In May, a mysterious great white shark was thought to have entered Long Island Sound after a tracking device scientists had attached to it pinged. However, it was later found that the shark was far from the Sound, which is probably a relief to everyone in Long Island. 

  
  

  
  

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  These beautiful glowing areas of ocean are called 'China's blue tears,' and they're created by toxic bioluminescent creatures called dinoflagellates. The beautiful glowing water is growing in size every year, which may be an indication of the rising temperatures of the ocean. 

  
  

  
  

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  This is the world's first photo of a wild albino panda, taken on camera while walking through a bamboo forest in China. Less than 2,000 (normal) pandas live in the forests of China, but this panda is the first known albino panda. Surprisingly, brown and white (not albino) pandas also exist.

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  This isn't the kind of creature you'd want to encounter when swimming in the ocean. Dragonfish live at a depth of 1,640 feet in the ocean, and their bodies glow to attract prey. Although dragonfish are small - 6 inches long - they have huge jaws lined with almost transparent, razor-sharp teeth, which prey isn't able to see. Researchers found out that the dragonfish's teeth have grain-sized nanocrystals speckled on each fang, keeping light from reflecting off them. Creepy. 

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