Images

Macrouridae, also known as rattails or grenadiers, captured on the seafloor in the Aleutian Arc by the HOV Alvin

Deep-sea Aleutian Arc Snailfish pokes out of coral; image captured by HOV Alvin during the Aleutian Arc expedition in June 2025

Sedimented seafloor with brittle stars as viewed from the HOV Alvin near Moffet Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

USGS biologist Joseph Alday releases a tagged cobia off Naples, Florida with Steve Vanderkooy of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission

High-resolution multispectral imagery collected in March 2024 by USGS of NPS vegetation monitoring plots at Palo Alto Battlefield in Brownsville, TX. The black boxes outline the sampling plot perimeter, and the green polygons outline patches of cordgrass (Spartina).

Exposure with a UV-B light of CRISPR-Cas12a-processed samples after a reaction time of 30 minutes. Those that are illuminated are positive for brown treesnake DNA, those that are not illuminated contain negative controls (no brown treesnake DNA). Photo by Adam Perez (USGS).

Invasive swamp eel (Monopterus albus) collected in central Florida. Swamp eels are used as bait and in live food markets and have the potential to impact the ecology and economics of a waterbody. 

A USGS boat holds dozens of endangered sea turtles recovered from St. Joseph Bay, Florida on January 24, 2025 in a coordinated effort to save over 1,000 turtles from a winter cold-stun event. (Dan Catizone, USGS)

U.S. Geological Survey biologist Dan Catizone pulls rescued endangered sea turtles along the shore of St. Joseph Bay, Florida, January 23, 2025 during a coordinated recovery event after water temperature drops made waters off of Florida's coast unsafe for the animals. (Samantha Snow, USGS)

(From left) U.S. Geological Survey scientists Samantha Snow, Dan Catizone, and Meg Lamont each hold a sea turtle in advance of their release back into St. Joseph Bay, Florida on January 29, 2025. The three turtles were among the estimated 1,200 endangered sea turtles that were rescued from icy ocean water and beaches during a cold stun event January 21-26, 2025.

A cold-stunned green sea turtle rests in the shallows on St. Joseph Bay. St. Joseph Bay, Florida on January 24, 2025. (USGS photo by Dan Catizone)

Screenshot of USGS FaST map showing potential spread of alligatorweed to new locations following Hurricane Helene.

Whole blood smears from known diploid (A, C, E) and triploid (B, D, F) Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) were stained with Diff Quik and imaged with a cell phone attached to a field microscope (A and B) or an Olympus microscope connected to a digital camera (C-F).  Polystyrene standard beads can be noted.  Total magnification was 600x with the

 Cover image for Elevation gain | Wetland loss animation. stylized water with a berm and wind cloud

This is a photo of a USGS employee holding a handful of Fatmucket mussels at Columbia Environmental Research Center. These mussels will be used for reintroduction. 

USGS scientists mapping vegetation and land use in Los Planes watershed, Baja California Sur, Mexico, as part of a joint project to understand the impacts of installing natural infrastructure in dryland streams (NIDS), structures made from rock, sandbags and wood, meant

U.S. Geological Survey Biologist Dan Catizone prepares a cold-stunned green sea turtle for transport to Gulf World Marine Institute near St. Joseph Bay, Florida January 23, 2024.

Cold-stunned green sea turtles rescued from fatal water temperatures in St. Joseph Bay, Florida by U.S. Geological Survey staff members are held temporarily in a crate before being transferred to Gulf World Marine Institute for rehabilitation and medical treatment January 23, 2024. 

U.S. Geological Survey biologist Samantha Snow rescues a cold-stunned green sea turtle from the shores of St. Joseph Bay, Florida Jan. 23, 2024 during a recent cold weather event. About 60 sea turtles were transported from St. Joseph Bay to Gulf World Marine Institute for rehabilitation and medical treatment January 17-24, 2024. 

A cold-stunned green sea turtle near St. Joseph Bay, Florida moments before rescue by U.S. Geological Survey staff members January 23, 2024. The animals were pulled from fatal water temperatures off the coast of Florida and from beaches in a collaborative rescue event by the USGS, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the U.S.

Margaret Lamont, a U.S. Geological Survey research biologist who has studied sea turtles for nearly 30 years, prepares a cold-stunned sea turtle for transport during a mass rescue event near St. Joseph Bay, Florida January 23, 2024. Water temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit can be fatal to cold-blooded sea turtles, and about 60 were transported from St.