Images

THE ALEUTIAN CRADLE OF TSUNAMIS 

(Click here to read EOS Feature: Seismic Sources in the Aleutian Cradle of Tsunamis) 

Scientists collect exposed ablation stakes during fall fieldwork on South Cascade Glacier in Washington. 

Figure showing two Capella Space Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite images of a walrus haulout in Russia during and after walrus occupancy. USGS has found that SAR imagery can detect walruses when they rest on shore in large numbers and is pursuing studies to understand how satellite imagery can support improved management of the Pacific walrus.

Normal Black-capped Chickadee. Over the past 20 years, Alaskans have witnessed a startling increase of beak deformities among Black-capped Chickadees and other species of resident birds. This disease, called avian keratin disorder (AKD), is characterized by debilitating beak overgrowth and other abnormalities of keratinized tissues.

USGS research hydrologist Laura Hubbard and Memorial University of Newfoundland's Jordan Wight wade with an orange inflatable boat in shallow wetland as they filter for infectious avian influenza in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

Upper Midwest Water Science Center Hydrologist Laura Hubbard filters wetland water to sample for infectious avian influenza in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

Scientists scout for brown bears before starting infectious avian influenza water sampling in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

Staff of the USGS Alaska Science Center Molecular Ecology Lab, September 2022.  From left to right: Ann Riddle-Bernsten (Biologist), Bobbi Pierson (Lab Manager and Geneticist), Laura Scott (Geneticist), Eleni Petrou (Geneticist), Christina Ahlstrom (Geneticist), Cherie McKeeman (Geneticist), Damian Menning (Research Geneticist), and Andy Ramey (Lab Director and

Point-of-view image of an adult male polar bear interacting with two other bears while in the ocean near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The image was recorded from a GPS-enabled video camera collar as part of a study measuring the energy expenditure, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of polar bears on land. 

An adult male polar bear with a GPS-enabled video camera collar on land in Wapusk National Park, Canada as part of a study measuring the energy expenditure, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of polar bears on land.

Point-of-view image of an adult male polar bear interacting with another bear while in the ocean near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The image was recorded from a GPS-enabled video camera collar as part of a study measuring the energy expenditure, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of polar bears on land.

A building lifted from its foundation by floodwater from Extratropical Typhoon Merbok is trapped under a bridge in Nome, Alaska.

Point-of-view image of an adult male polar bear walking along the coast in Wapusk National Park, Canada. The image was recorded from a GPS-enabled video camera collar as part of a study measuring the energy expenditure, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of polar bears on land.

Point-of-view image of an adult male polar bear interacting with two other bears while on land near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The image was recorded from a GPS-enabled video camera collar as part of a study measuring the energy expenditure, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of polar bears on land. 

A Common Murre feeds its chick a capelin at the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Capelin are an important, energy rich forage fish for many marine predators.

Figure comparing Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite images of Pacific walruses on a terrestrial haulout near Point Lay, Alaska, as collected by four different SAR instruments possessing different spatial resolution capabilities (Sentinel-1, Radarsat-2, TerraSAR-X, and Capella Space).

A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre holds a display fish at its breeding site on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2019. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.p

A melanistic (all dark) Common Murre flies above the Gull Island breeding colony in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, 2018. See related paper published in the Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation at: http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/50_2/50_2_225-227.pdf.

Tributary of Kugururok River located in Noatak National Park and Preserve, Alaska with orange water. Recent observations from Arctic Alaska indicate that waters draining permafrost landscapes may be susceptible to iron and carbon mobilization following thaw.

Mainstem of Kugururok River located in Noatak National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Recent observations from Arctic Alaska indicate that waters draining permafrost landscapes may be susceptible to iron and carbon mobilization following thaw.

This is a graphical abstract for a publication by the USGS and collaborators that examines the role of diet and food intake affecting polar bear population dynamics. Polar bears consume diets consisting of high proportions of marine mammal blubber that they access from the sea ice.