Mountain Lake Biological Station

The Mountain Lake Biological Station is a field research and teaching facility located in the deciduous hardwood forest of the Appalachian Mountains of southwestern Virginia.  It is the field station of the biology department at the University of Virginia. MLBS provides a wide array of natural environments as well as two modern laboratories.

Black Rock Mountain State Park

Great Blue Hole

The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize.  The hole is circular in shape, 1000 feet across and over 400 feet deep.  The hole used to be a cave until the ocean levels rose and flooded the it.  Stalactites can still be seen at the deepest parts of the hole, and scientists estimate that some of them were created over 150,000 years ago.

Leafy Seadragon

Named after the dragons of Chinese mythology, Leafy seadragons (Phycodurus eques) resemble a piece of drifting seaweed as they float in the seaweed-filled water. The Leafy seadragon is covered with leaf-like appendages, making it remarkably camouflaged. Only the fluttering of tiny fins or the moving of an independently swiveling eye, reveals its presence.  Like the seahorse, the male seadragon carries as many as 150-200 eggs.