Images

A deeply eroded sand dune on the beach at Cape San Blas shows Hurricane Michael's impact on parts of the Florida Panhandle shoreline.

A beach house in Cape San Blas, Florida destroyed by Hurricane Michael, which struck the Florida Panhandle as a Category Four storm Oct. 10, 2018.

For ten years, this yellow concrete block house in Cape San Blas, Florida, dubbed Fish Inn, was the seasonal office, laboratory and living quarters for a team of USGS sea turtle researchers during their field season from November till April.

A loggerhead sea turtle is outfitted with a popoff ADL package (orange item affixed to turtle’s back) waiting in the boat to be released.

Underwater view of a loggerhead turtle being released with newly installed popoff ADL package (orange item on turtle’s back).

Lionfish invasion (1985-2018). Lionfish invaded US Atlantic coastal waters, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico with unprecedented, alarming speed. Though reports of sightings date back to the 1980s, it is only recently that the species has exploded in numbers and range.

USGS conducts a health assessment on a mantee in Crystal River, Florida.

Scientists and volunteers use nets to scoop the immobile sea turtles out of St. Joseph Bay before transporting them to safety. Photo by USGS. 

When water temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), cold-blooded sea turtles, like this Kemp’s ridley, can become cold-stunned. They are unable to swim or even raise their heads out of the water to breathe, which can lead to drowning. Photo by Margaret Lamont, USGS

David Seay, a contract biologist working with the USGS, holds a green sea turtle that is recovering from the effects of cold-stunning in St. Joseph Bay. Photo by Margaret Lamont, USGS.

USGS scientists Daniel Catizone (left) and David Seay (center) joined federal and state workers and volunteers in rescuing an estimated 1,000 cold-stunned sea turtles, making this the second largest sea turtle rescue of the 21^st century. Photo by Margaret Lamont, USGS

USGS scientist Margaret Lamont measures a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle recovered from the cold waters of St. Joseph Bay. Rescued sea turtles are weighed, measured andmarked with an identifier, and are examined to determine if they need medical attention. Photo by USGS. 

USGS scientist Margaret Lamont, who has studied sea turtles in Florida since 1995, carries a cold-stunned green sea turtle from the mud flats of St. Joseph Bay. Photo by USGS.

Eglin Air Force Base biologist Kathy Gault (left) and Dave Seay (right), a contract biologist working with the USGS, hauled cold-stunned sea turtles to safety along the icy shore of Cape San Blas. Scientists and licensed volunteers walked the beaches and marshes, loading cold-stunned sea turtles into kayaks.

Graph of land area change rate in coastal Louisiana from 1932–2016.  The red line approximates the long-term land area change rate. 95 out of 100 statistical analyses would produce a very similar trend (dotted blue lines). Credit: USGS

Shawn Harrison uses his new skills to check out the surf at Santa Cruz, California.

USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center's Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) outreach office staff were on hand at the World Wetlands Day celebration hosted by the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum and South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center as local students learned about the different types of wetlands in Louisiana.

The 3DR Solo with GoPro Hero4 camera and gimbal. Coming to a survey area near you soon.

Sandy Brosnahan (left) and Jon Borden at Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) training in Santa Cruz, California.

A special guest made an appearance at the 20th annual Louisiana Environmental Education Symposium where staff from the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center's Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) outreach office shared materials and information with teachers.

It looks like a holiday ornament, but this lovely object is a single-celled freshwater alga from the desmid family, found in the marshes of Florida’s Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. USGS biologist Barry Rosen photographed it at 200x magnification using ultraviolent light and a fluorescence microscope.