Photo of the Day
Each day, we highlight one extraordinary photograph from National Geographic. Check out more of our photos here.
Bright blue giant clams with wavy mantles sit among yellow coral on a shallow reef.
November 11, 2026 | Electric Reef
Giant clams (Tridacna maxima) spread their brilliant blue mantles across a coral reef in Bikar Lagoon in the Marshall Islands. Bikar is one of the region’s most intact ecosystems, with relatively little direct human impact. In October 2023, scientists with National Geographic Pristine Seas and the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority surveyed Bikar and nearby Bokak, documenting life from shallow reefs to the deep sea. Their findings established an ecological baseline that could help scientists understand what has been lost from more heavily affected marine ecosystems. Two years later, roughly 48,000 square kilometers surrounding the atolls became the Marshall Islands’ first national marine sanctuary.
