Images

The stream that flows down Kauai's Limahuli valley as it passes through the Limahuli Garden and Preserve.

USGS researchers collect surface water from a rice field weir box using trace-metal clean techniques.

A mango tree with two or three dozen ripening mangos.

A Pandanus tree with prominent aerial roots on a cliff-top at Limahuli Garden and Preserve.

Waimea canyon, famously dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" by Mark Twain, with its eroded cliffs, mists, and tropical montane vegetation.

USGS researchers sampling sediment from newly flooded rice fields, during growing season.

Waimea canyon, famously dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" by Mark Twain, with its eroded cliffs, mists, and tropical montane vegetation.

Waimea canyon, famously dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" by Mark Twain, with its eroded cliffs, mists, and tropical montane vegetation.

Unidentified species of baby spiders hatching and dispersing.

Lava islands, vegetated seaside cliffs, a black sand beach, and waves breaking against the steep ragged shoreline of a Hawaiian bay.

Lava islands, vegetated seaside cliffs, a black sand beach, and waves breaking against the steep ragged shoreline of a Hawaiian bay.

Lava islands, vegetated seaside cliffs, a black sand beach, and waves breaking against the steep ragged shoreline of a Hawaiian bay.

Lava islands, vegetated seaside cliffs, a black sand beach, and waves breaking against the steep ragged shoreline of a Hawaiian bay.

A forest on an old seaside lava flow vegetated almost entirely by just two plant species: Pandanus trees with an understory of Beach naupaka.

Lava islands, vegetated seaside cliffs, a black sand beach, and waves breaking against the steep ragged shoreline of a Hawaiian bay.

Lava islands, vegetated seaside cliffs, a black sand beach, and waves breaking against the steep ragged shoreline of a Hawaiian bay.

A hiking trail along seaside lava cliffs. Trail winds through an unusual Pandanus forest shared with an understory of Beach naupaka.

This hiking trail, Pandanus trees, an understory of Beach naupaka, and crashing waves characterize the windy cliff-tops along this jagged coast of solidified lava in Hawaii.

Eastern bluebird in bird bath.

Eastern bluebird flapping its wings in a bird bath.

Colpophyllia natans in shallow water.