Images

Lake trout historically supported the most valuable freshwater commercial fisheries in North America, but their populations crashed in parts of the Great Lakes during the 1950s and 1960s due to overfishing and invasive species.

USGS hydrologist Mark Reid examines an extensional basin in the middle of the Oso landslide deposit.  The headscarp (near-vertical cliff at the back of the landslide) is visible at the top of the image.  The prominent tree is one of many that fell and became perched as the landslide spread out over the river valley.

USGS scientists monitor the water quality off a bridge near Sedgwick, Kansas. A new USGS study shows that water quality on the Little Arkansas River and in the Equus Beds aquifer has not substantially changed since 2007 recharge activities began in the Equus Beds aquifer.

The City of Wichita's Equus Beds Aquifer Storage and Recovery Phase II river intake structure near Sedgwick, Kansas. A new USGS study shows that water quality on the Little Arkansas River and in the Equus Beds aquifer has not substantially changed since 2007 recharge activities began in the Equus Beds aquifer.

Cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Okeechobee, FL.

A 31-mm sturgeon captured in the Missouri River near Williston, North Dakota, on July 8 using a beam trawl. Sampling efforts occurred in support of a recent inter-agency collaborative drift experiment involving 700,000 sturgeon embryos. This sturgeon will be genetically test to see if it is from those used for the experiment.

In September 1964, Interior Secretary Stewart Udall successfully shepherded some of the most remote and rugged terrain within the continental United States into the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS) with the creation of Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah.

Resource-2 AWiFS image over Norton Bay, Alaska.

Ox Bel Ha Cave Project Field Team Members (left to right) David Brankovits (TAMUG), Jake Emmert (Moody Gardens), John Pohlman (USGS), and Francisco Bautista De La Cruz (Speleotech).

Research hydrologist Dr. Susannah Erwin retrieves fluorometer from the Upper Missouri River to download dye trace data.

USGS fish biologist Dr. Pat Braaten and student contractor Garrett Cook inspect contents of a larval fish net during night sampling on the Upper Missouri River.

A U.S. Geological Survey hydraulic habitat assessment boat in not enough water.

USGS Fish Biologist Dave Combs searches through net contents for larval fish during night sampling on the Upper Missouri River.

USGS fish biologists launch at sunset on the Upper Missouri River for a night of sampling for larval pallid sturgeon.

Typical contents of a net deployment showing larval fish, possibly pallid sturgeon.

A US Geological Survey hydroacoustic survey boat measures velocity profiles on the Upper Missouri River.

Research hydrologist Dr. Susannah Erwin and hydrologic technician Brian Anderson inspect ADCP data on the Upper Missouri River.

Distribution of free embryos to boats in preparation for mass release.

Pre-deployment briefing for the Upper Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Drift Study. Fish biologists and physical scientists from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, US Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Montana, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and US Army Corps of Engineers go over the sample design and assignments.

Student Contractor Garrett Cook processes a drift sample collected on June 27 shortly after the free embryos and beads were released. Note the small cluster of pallid sturgeon free embryos and green beads in the lower portion of the sorting tray. These embryos and beads were elements of the Upper Missouri River drift experiment.

Simultaneous mass release of 700,000 free embryos from boats distributed across the channel of the Upper Missouri River.