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| Year-old "glass" eels hole up in Maine's Pemaquid River. |
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| Barbados—Several species of morning swimmers—human tourists, protected turtles, assorted fish—share the azure waters of Paynes Bay. Boat operators here feed fish-strip breakfasts to about 15 young hawksbill and green turtles. |
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| Following its keen nose, a dingo prowls the edge of a sand blow—an ever shifting expanse of silica. |
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| The mosaic pattern on an owl butterfly egg looks like a landing pad. At the center is a minute opening, called a micropyle, through which the sperm enters the egg. |
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| Tannin-rich runoff from Fraser's interior stains the sea in the aftermath of a summer storm. |
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| Icon of ancient Egypt, the teenage pharaoh's funerary mask immortalizes his features in gold, glass, and semiprecious stones. This and other treasures from his tomb, now in Cairo's Egyptian Museum, attract a constant swirl of visitors. |
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| Avenue of the Baobabs, an area near Morondava protected since 2007, is all that remains of a once thick forest cleared for farmland. Growing 80 feet or more, baobabs are valued for fruit and bark. |
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| Honsa Olafson's 900-foot-long conical net snags a mess of eels in the Baltic Sea. In Sweden the fish are grilled, smoked, fried, roasted, or dropped into soup for the autumn eel party, a centuries-old tradition on the Skåne coast in the south. One good excuse for serving schnapps, vodka, and beer at the event: Swedes believe alcohol aids in digesting the fatty fish. |
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| Pioneering plants get a toehold above the tide line on Australia's Fraser Island. |
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| Bordered by beaches and interspersed with dunes and sand blows, Fraser Island stretches more than 75 miles long and some 15 miles wide. |
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| New Zealand's longfin eels are giants, some topping six feet and 80 pounds, that can live for decades. Traditional Maori prize them as guardians of sacred spaces—and as dinner. These females at South Island's Willowbank Wildlife Reserve could be 30 years old. |
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| Hidden in the desert canyons west of the Nile, the Valley of the Kings holds the tombs of King Tut and his royal relatives. In antiquity this was considered a secluded spot. Today the growing suburbs of Luxor shimmer nearby. |
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| The endangered Cooloola sedge frog (Litoria cooloolensis) is part of the rare group of acid frogs—so named because they find refuge in naturally acidic waters, including Fraser's freshwater lakes. |
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| Fraser Island is famous for its tangled vine forests, or scrubs. This strangler fig twines sunward in Yidney Scrub. |
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| Black eyes and red hearts dot glass eels scooped into a tank from Maine's Damariscotta River. This batch, worth some $400 a pound, is bound for China. Eeling in the U.S. is heavily regulated; Maine is one of the few states allowing the export of glass eels. |
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| One of many primitive plants on Fraser Island, this Banksia was named in honor of British botanist Joseph Banks, who visited Australia's east coast in 1770 on a voyage with Captain James Cook. |
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| England—Membranous wings spanning two feet and head tucked out of sight, an adult male Egyptian fruit bat negotiates netting in a London studio. This nocturnal fruit-eater was the living subject of an anatomical study. |
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| Coffee-colored Wathumba Creek spills into the jade shallows of Platypus Bay. |
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| A coffin of solid gold weighing almost 250 pounds held the king's mummified remains. |
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| One of dozens of lakes on the island, Lake McKenzie shimmers in the starlight. During the day the lake's sugar white beach and windowpane water attract hundreds of visitors. Like the painters and poets who celebrated Fraser's otherworldly allure, they return home with stories and images of soul-stirring beauty. |
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| Rock is a rarity on an island of sand. This volcanic rock, in the Champagne Pools on Fraser's northern shore, predates the rest of the island by millions of years. |
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