This stunning underwater oasis is our nation’s newest national monument. Today President Obama designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which is located more than 100 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. The monument is home to undersea canyons and mountains, making up fragile and largely pristine deep marine ecosystems that provide a haven for rare and native species as well as important scientific research. The area’s rich biodiversity includes deep sea corals – some of which are found nowhere else on Earth – and endangered whales and sea turtles. Thanks to today’s action, New England’s unique seamounts will be protected for future generations. Photos by NOAA.

In this rare sight, a rainbow (we like to call it a “blob-bow”) brightens the dunes following an afternoon storm at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. Summer thunderstorms at the park are common and bring cool winds, heavy rain and lightning. When storms approach, be sure to come down off the dunes, as lightning often strikes the dunefield. The electrical current fuses or melts sand particles together, resulting in a “fulgurite” (Latin for lightning rock). Photo by Patrick Myers, National Park Service.

The treasure you’ll find at Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia comes in golden sunrise sparkles, glimpses of rare wildlife and 5,618 acres of precious forests, marshes and beaches. Only accessible by boat, the island was used by the Navy as a source of live oak timber for shipbuilding in the early 1800s. Now, the island is a source of joy and solitude for all who visit. Photo by Becky Skiba, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.