Images

Female McKay's Bunting with berry stained feathers on St. Matthew Island, Alaska.

Red fox kits on St. Matthew Island, Alaska

USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Vanessa von Biela and Sarah Laske near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska departing for a day of field work in the nearshore Beaufort Sea to study fish community response to environmental conditions including sea ice, water temperature and salinity.

Canada goose (Branta canadensis), Anchorage, AK

A Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, Alaska.

Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and Common Murres have all been tested for and contained harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins in Alaska. Since 2015, the USGS has worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop testing methods and research projects to better understand the geographic extent, timing and impacts of algal toxins in Alaska marine ecosystems.

USGS Scientist Sarah Schoen with a plankton sample to test for harmful algal bloom toxins in Cook Inlet, Alaska.

Preparing the boat for isokinetic water sampling using the equal discharge increment method on the Alsek River.

The sampling team (Sean Burril of BOEM; Ashley Stanek of USGS ASC and Sarah Laske of USGS ASC) removes individual fish from floating net pens, identify, measure length, and release the fish back to the lagoon.

Key forage fish in Alaska (from top to bottom): Pacific capelin, Pacific herring, Pacific sand lance, and juvenile walleye pollock. Cook Inlet, Alaska

USGS scientist Sarah Schoen gets ready to deploy a net in Cook Inlet to collect plankton samples to test for harmful algal bloom toxins. 

Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) student Jakob Sipary holds a red-throated loon on the Canning River Delta, Alaska, July 2019 as part of a USGS study on loon marine habitat use areas. Jakob was an intern for the summer with the U.S. Geological Survey.

An Arctic Tern with zooplankton in Prince William Sound, Alaska. 

Students Stacey Edmonsond (left) and Audrey Erickson (right) of the Juneau Icefield Research Program, measuring glacier mass balance at the flow divide of Taku and Mendenhall glaciers during the summer of 2019

2019 Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) students during a four day and 83 kilometers ski traverse across Taku Glacier, carrying all their food, water, clothing, tents, and science gear as they help measure the mass balance along the way.

Image of the Taku towers, among the Taku Range at Taku Glacier during the summer of 2019

Central Arctic Herd caribou within the Kuparuk oil field on the North Slope of Alaska. The photo was taken during the summer mosquito harassment period. 

Central Arctic Herd - caribou crossing a road within the Kuparuk oil field on the North Slope of Alaska. The photo was taken during the summer mosquito harassment period. 

Caribou with calves from the Central Arctic Herd in the Kuparuk Oil Field, Alaska.

Caribou in the Central Arctic Herd crossing a road in the Kuparuk oil field in northern Alaska.

Caribou in the Central Arctic Herd crossing a road in the Kuparuk oil field in northern Alaska.