23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Wildlife
Siege of the Island

On Año Nuevo Island, the sea lions gather in numbers that can only be understood from the air. The collapsing building—once human—now sits swallowed by a living tide. In the warm light of dusk, the colony becomes pattern and movement, a reminder of how wildlife quietly reclaims the places we leave behind.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2025
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: California, United States of America
Copyright: © Alex Visbal