Photo of the Day 175

Boat Hull, Arctic Circle, 2002

Photograph by Peter Essick

The glassy surface of a boreal forest lake in the Arctic Circle reflects the bright red hull of a boat. The boreal, or northern, forest, is the great globe-circling ecosystem of the north that lies in Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Scandinavia. Its soils are thin, growing seasons are brief, and its plants, animals, and people must withstand intense weather.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Great Northern Forest," June 2002, National Geographic magazine)