MNN Galleries

Eco-photos of the week: Aug. 21-27

By: Catie Leary on Aug. 25, 2011, 7:31 p.m.

A two-year-old girl named Lilly sits on a Victoria Water Lily inside a tropical greenhouse at the Braunschweig University of Technology's botanic garden in Braunschweig, Germany on Aug. 19.

Photo: Dominique Leppin

19 of 21

Victoria water lily

A 2-year-old girl named Lilly sits on a Victoria water lily on Aug. 19 inside a tropical greenhouse at the Braunschweig University of Technology's botanic garden in Braunschweig, Germany.

The Victoria water lily, named for Queen Victoria of the England, is native to the Amazon river basin and can hold up to 70 pounds of weight.

A majestic owl swoops down upon an unsuspecting mouse on Aug. 23 in this brilliant photo taken by 9-year-old Allen Shank and his family of photographers in London.

Labrador retriever Hawkeye lays by the casket of his owner, Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, during the funeral at the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School on Aug. 19 in Rockford, Iowa.

Workers set out fresh tomatoes to dry in the sun at a farm in Bayingolin, China on Aug. 22.

A stunning pink and orange sky sets over the Tower Bridge on the River Thames in London on Aug. 22.

Three chimpanzees rest inside their enclosure in an attempt to beat the summer heat at the Guangzhou Zoo in Guangzhou, China on Aug. 22.

Scott Hambrick, left, and Chris Hartman, right, survey the damage done to a home after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the small town of Mineral, Va.

An aisle stocked full of groceries at a local store in Mineral, Va called The Miller's Market, is in a complete disarray after the town was shaken up by the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Virginia on Aug. 23.

A young man on his surfboard rides the Eisbach Wave while other surfers wait on the embankment for their turn.

Thousands of people gather at the beach to relax under colorful umbrellas and swim with inflatable water toys in Dalian, China on Aug. 21.

A Rufous Hummingbird perches on a barbed wire fence along a pasture near Roseburg, Oregon on Aug. 21.

Two snow leopards, Otto and Theophano, are held by keepers after being named at a zoo ceremony in Madgeburg, Germany on Aug. 23.

Children climb and jump off a stone structure into the Khanabad river to cool off in the hot summer weather Kunduz, Afghanistan on Aug. 23.

Hurricane Irene gathers strength as it passes over the Caribbean on Aug. 22 in this photo snapped by astronaut Ron Garan high above the Earth while aboard the International Space Station.

In the wake of damages wrought by Hurricane Irene, a young woman carries a bag of supplies on her shoulders across a beach filled with debris near Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic in Aug. 24.

Visitors create standing sculptures by stacking smooth beach cobblestones at Surfers Point in San Buenaventura State Park in Ventura, California on Aug. 23.

A boy giggles as his mother and brother play with him at a slum in the southern Pakistan port city of Karachi on Aug. 23.

Indigenous citizens of Bolivia march through Moxos, Bolivia on Aug. 21 in protest against plans for the construction of a road that would pass through the middle of a nature reserve in Bolivia.

An emergency vehicle blocks a collapsed road in near Yichang, China on Aug. 22.

Children add bamboo shoots to a 'birthday cake' during the birthday party for giant pandas Ya Lin and Shu Yun on Aug. 24 at the Hangzhou Zoo in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Victoria water lily

A 2-year-old girl named Lilly sits on a Victoria water lily on Aug. 19 inside a tropical greenhouse at the Braunschweig University of Technology's botanic garden in Braunschweig, Germany.

The Victoria water lily, named for Queen Victoria of the England, is native to the Amazon river basin and can hold up to 70 pounds of weight.