Images

Scientist releases mangrove diamondback terrapins held briefly for tagging.

Sampling juvenile common snook following passage of Hurricane Wilma October 2005.  Storm surge from hurricane is hypothesized to have facilitated recruitment of this sportfish to presumptive Tarpon Bay nursery grounds in the following 18 months.

Seining for fish in open water necessitates closing the seine quickly to avoid fish escape.  Closing the seine around a pole offshore accomplishes this objective in sampling.

Scientists close off a center bag seine prior to pursing net to recover fish sample.

Employee holds a sheepshead, a juvenile fish of recreational importance captured in a mangrove-lined tidal creek.

Mudflats (open water in background) derived via erosion and habitat conversion from former mangrove forests often have a band of mangroves adjacent to the creek bank.  Here a researcher accesses a mudflat at high tide to make measurements.

Lift nets buried in the forest floor and deployed at high tide permit the estimation of fish density within flooded forests.

Scientist displays juvenile tarpon captured in a tidal pond.

Scientists pull a seine net through a blocked-off section of a man-made ditch to estimate fish abundance.

Scientists pull a seine net through an intertidal creek to estimate fish abundance.

USGS scientist measures water velocity as part of estimating flow from a mangrove forest.

Seining for fish in open water necessitates closing the seine quickly to avoid fish escape.  Closing the seine around a pole offshore accomplishes this objective in sampling.

USGS SCEP displays juvenile tarpon captured in a poorly-connected tidal pond.

Scientists build a boardwalk to access mangrove forest to sample fish.

Scientists inspect a raised boardwalk used to access a mangrove forest to sample fish.