Images

USGS biologist Paul Cryan. Biologists hope to learn more about the scale and causes of bat fatalities at wind turbines by searching for carcasses of bats beneath turbines and carefully documenting the conditions under which they are found.

USGS biologist Paul Cryan releases a bat carrying a miniature radio transmitter. Researchers are increasingly turning to high-tech methods to try to learn more about the mysterious lives of bats.

Brutus, a wolf being studied by USGS scientists, is chemically immobilized, measured, ear-tagged, and fitted with a radio collar near the Eureka airstrip on Ellesmere Island in the High Arctic, Nunavut, Canada.

Late in the evening, two wolves make use of the trail that leads to the head of the fiord. Studying wolves in the High Arctic allows scientists to follow the wolves during their travels, assuming the scientists can keep up. All-terrain vehicles are needed, and the 24-hour daylight at this time of year is critical.

USGS biologist Dave Mech has spent more than 20 summers studying Arctic wolves on Ellesmere Island, where they are unafraid of humans and can be observed at close range.

Massachusetts inner continental shelf bottom photograph showing seafloor life.

Massachusetts inner continental shelf bottom photograph showing seafloor life.

Sunlight through an autumn fern (with spores structures) in front of a downed old-growth cedar tree.

Calm Lake Michigan morning while sampling dead and dying fish for viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). This virus has recently emerged in the Great Lakes and caused severe epidemics in many fish species.

An American Alligator in Everglades National Park. The species was once listed as Endangered, but was removed in 1987 after a successful recovery.

American crocodiles are restricted in their range within the USA to southern Florida. Decisions on restoration of the Everglades must incorporate protection for this threatened species.

Returning via jet boat from a juvenile salmon fish release after a warm rain.

Collecting sediment to look for evidence of forage fish (sand lance and/or surf smelt) spawning (eggs) in Liberty Bay - Puget Sound.

This picture is taken while climbing Mt. McLoughlin looking east over the Rouge River National Forest and Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon.

Panoramic (~180 degree) view of landscape in Denali National Park, Alaska. Photographed on July 27, 2009, during fieldwork on Dall sheep habitat by members of the USGS Southwest Geographic Science Team.

Coast Salish Canoe Journey 2009 landing in Pillar Point.
The journey pulled a water quality probe to measure salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.

Coast Salish canoe journey preparing to launch; sunrise at Pillar Point. The canoe journey pulled a water quality probe, which measured salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.

Coast Salish Canoe Journey 2009, preparation in Neah Bay. The journey pulled a water quality probe to measure salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.

Beach Sampling for Forage Fish Spawn on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound.

Frog in the woods in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

Bear digging for food in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.