Images

A great blue heron and great egret in the parking lot by the Big Cypress Bend
boardwalk at Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. The heron is enjoying a fish
dinner thanks to the hunting skills of the egret. While the egret had initially
held a fish in it's beak, the heron's squabbling caused the egret to drop it.

Flooded marshes of Water Conservation Area 3 (WCA-3), seen north of I-75
(Alligator Alley).

A large flock of birds, mostly egrets, resting and flying along a canal on Highway
833 (a short drive north off of I-75 (Alligator Alley)).

Two alligators lying along a canal, just north off of I-75 (Alligator Alley) onto
Highway 833.

The marsh of Water Conservation Area 3 as seen looking north of I-75
(Alligator Alley). Spatterdock are seen in the foreground.

A morning glory resting amid ferns, alongside the Fakahatchee Strand State
Preserve boardwalk.

The Getting Building at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center allowed the center to expand the capabilities of the USGS to include more offices, a large sediment and coral laboratory, core archive space, electronics shop, workshop, and a loading and staging area for field research.

In 1995, the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center began construction on the second building. This building expanded the capabilities of the USGS to include more offices, a large sediment and coral laboratory, core archive space, electronics shop, workshop, and a loading and staging area for field research.

This historic brick Studebaker Building, originally built in 1925, was chosen as the location for the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in the late 1980s.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.