Birds Take Flight on Alaska's Coast

This photograph shows birds taking flight near Icy Cape on the Chukchi Sea coast of Alaska, an area that provides habitat for a variety of avian species. Coastal erosion along the Arctic coast is chronic, widespread and potentially accelerating, posing threats to infrastructure important for defense and energy purposes, natural shoreline habitats and nearby Native communities. To help address these concerns, the USGS is collecting information on past and present shoreline changes along the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii.