A Giant Sequoia near Yosemite National Park

Public Domain Photo: A Giant Sequoia tree found near the Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia, California, USA.

Sequoiadendron giganteum (generally known as giant sequoia, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, or Wellingtonia) is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods. The other two are Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood) and Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood). When only referred to as ‘sequoia’, it means Sequoiadendron giganteum, which grow naturally only in the groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, United States.

Tunnel Log, Crescent Meadow Road, SNP

Public Domain Photos: Tunnel Log, Crescent Meadow Road, Sequoia National Park in California

The Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park in California so that visitors can drive their cars through it. The tunnel is 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and 17 feet (5.2 meters) wide. In December 1937, a sequoia tree, 275 feet (83.8 meters) tall and 21 feet (6.4 meters) in diameter, fell across the Crescent Meadow Road due to natural causes. In the following summer, a Civilian Conservation Corps crew cut a tunnel through the tree.

Ko Tapu, James Bond Island, Thailand

PD Photos: Ko Tapu islet, 40 meters west of Khao Phing Kan (James Bond Island), a part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park, on the west coast of Thailand, in the Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea.

Ko Tapu is a limestone rock formation (an islet), which is about 20 meters (66 feet) tall with the diameter increasing from about 4 meters (13 feet) at water level to about 8 meters (26 feet) at the top. It lies about 40 meters (130 feet) to the west from the northern part of Khao Phing Kan, popularly known as James Bond Island, which is actually a two-island pair located on the west coast of Thailand, in the Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea. The island is a part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park.

In the Permian period, the entire area was a barrier reef, which ruptured due to tectonic plate movements, dispersing the broken reefs over the area flooded by the rising sea. Strong winds, waves, water currents and tides gradually eroded them partially, and the remaining portions formed islands, sometimes forming peculiar shapes, such as Ko Tapu. Erosion by tides is clearly visible at the bottom of Ko Tapu.

In Thai language Ko Tapu means ‘nail’ or ‘spike’ island (named after its shape). The island was selected as a location for the 1974 James Bond movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’, starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland in key roles. The island was filmed as the hideout for Bond's antagonist, Francisco Scaramanga (the titular ‘Man with the Golden Gun’, played by Christopher Lee).

After the movie was released, Khao Phing Kan Island, and sometimes Ko Tapu, became popularly known as James Bond Island, and it rapidly became a very popular international tourist destination in Thailand. Now the original name of the island is rarely used even by local Thai people.

Since 1998, it is forbidden for tourist boats to approach Ko Tapu, to stop further erosion of the limestone due to waves on and near the islet that might eventually result in its collapse.

Tunnel Log on the Crescent Meadow Road, SNP, California

Photo: Tunnel Tree on the Crescent Meadow Road, a photo taken on July 17, 1940 by George A Grant, from National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection.

The Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park, in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia, California, in the United States of America. The tree, which measured 275 feet (84 m) tall and 21 feet (6.4 m) in diameter, fell across a park road in 1937 due to some natural causes. The next year, a crew cut out an 8-foot (2.4 m) tall, 17-foot (5.2 m) wide tunnel through the trunk of the sequoia to make the road passable.

Photo 2: Tunnel Log in American Grand Forest, photo by Martin Leupold, taken in July 2005 and released as Public Domain Photo.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, India

Photo: A leopard at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, India

Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), earlier known as Borivali National Park, is a large protected area on the northern fringes of suburban Mumbai city in India, covering an area of 104 sq km (40 sq miles). It is one of the few national parks existing within a metropolis limit in Asia and it attracts more than two million visitors annually. The 2400-year-old Kanheri Caves sculpted out of the rocky cliffs which lie within the park.

Photo: A monkey and its baby at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, India

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park is home to a number of species of flora and fauna. Visitors can easily spot animals including leopards, spotted deer, Indian hares, barking deer, porcupine, Asian palm civet, mouse deer, monkeys, Indian flying fox, Sambar deer and reptiles such as crocodiles, pythons, cobras, monitor lizards, Russell's vipers, bamboo pit vipers and Ceylonese cat snakes.