Images

A hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) found dead beneath a wind turbine, an apparent victim of a blade strike or near-contact barotrauma (lung failure from severe and abrupt pressure change; here, caused by the spinning blades). Prior to the problem of bat fatalities at wind turbines, biologists rarely encountered hoary bats.

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.

Scientists examine the teeth of Brutus, a wolf being studied by USGS scientists, for patterns of wear that indicate age. The front incisors are worn without their lateral cusps present. The canines show some wear and are becoming rounded and stained but still maintain most of their length. One canine tip has been broken.

Brutus, a radio-tagged wolf being studied by USGS scientists, is a member of a pack of at least 12 adults and an unknown number of pups.

A mother wolf carries an errant pup back to their den.

Massachusetts inner continental shelf bottom photograph showing seafloor life.

Fireweed after fire in Alaska

Foothills of the Front Range, Denver, CO

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.

Quinault tribal netpen facility in Lake Quinault, for rearing steelhead trout and chinook salmon

Bear in apple tree in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Taken during field work.

USGS biologist Randy Bennett and volunteers sample a stream using electro-fishing gear.

Bristle-thighed Curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) are large shorebirds that breed in Alaska and spend the nonbreeding season on atolls and small islands throughout Oceania. This life history pattern requires curlews to migrate long distances each year.

USGS Cooperative Research Unit graduate student Ambre Chaudoin monitors dissolved oxygen levels, pH, and temperature in endangered Devils Hole pupfish spawning habitat in Devils Hole.

The Faka Union Canal Weir #1 (Collier County, Florida) helps create a downstream hydrological haven for manatees. During the cold winter months, the right flow conditions can maintain a salinity gradient known as a halocline that traps warm water near the bottom of the residential canals at Port of the Islands.

Freshwater flowing over the Faka Union Canal Weir #1 near Port of the Islands, Collier County, Florida. During cold weather, freshwater flows here can maintain a downstream salinity gradient that creates a warm water refuge for manatees.

A manatee swims downstream from a weir in Faka Union Canal known to create a strong salinity gradient downstream.

USGS Sirenia Project researchers studying manatees in Florida.

Schools out !. Bus passing by largest Burr Oak in Missouri.

Songbird finding food for its young.

Plasma separated from the blood by centrifuge of a pallid sturgeon is carefully divided into 3 vials.  The plasma samples are immediately frozen for laboratory analysis.