Photo of the Day

a fur seal diving under the surf off Cape Town, South Africa
November 26, 2014

Seal Dive

Southern Africa has some of the world’s richest waters. But debate swirls over how to sustain these seas and the fishing communities that depend on them. Here, a fur seal surfs Atlantic swells off Cape Town. To conserve sea life around the city’s coastline, a marine protected area (MPA)—one of 23 in South Africa—was created in 2004.

See more pictures from the December 2014 feature story “Cross Currents.”

Photograph by Thomas P. Peschak, National Geographic

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