Images

A rare occurrence in the Missouri River, this Branchiopod known as a fairy shrimp was caught during larval sampling efforts near Arrow Rock, MO, on May 24, 2011. 

A Green sea turtle fitted with a USGS satellite tag on Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Fl, USGS. Note: All marine turtle images taken in Florida were obtained with the approval of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Marine Turtle Permit 176 issued to K.M.

The contents of the net are flushed into the cod end, or the trailing end of the net where the fish are finally caught.  The cod is then emptied into black bowls for sorting.

The Colorado River basin supports one of the most distinctive fish communities in North America, including the federally endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha). One of only six remaining populations of this fish is found in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. USGS scientists and their cooperators are responsible for monitoring the Grand Canyon population.

Greater sage-grouse male, in flight.                         

A skier stand next to avalanche debris in Glacier National Park, 5/5/2011.

USGS avalanche researcher evaluates avalanche debris in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Ticks spread the widest variety of diseases that are harmful to humans, including Lyme disease. This image shows a female blacklegged tick, or deer tick (species Ixodes scapularis).

Shorebirds feeding on a diked-off area of former intertidal mudflats at a reclamation project in Bohai Bay, Yellow Sea, China. The substrate the birds are feeding on is mud and sand that has been pumped into the impoundment from beyond the levee (dredge in background).

Pacific lamprey, Hamma-Hamma River, dwarf adult.

Contamination from commercial products such as nonstick cookware and stain repellents could reduce the reproduction of tree swallows nesting in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Helicopters assisting USGS scientists in Everglades National Park.

Climate change in the form of reduced snowfall in mountains  is causing powerful and cascading shifts in montane plant and bird communities through the increased ability of elk to stay at high elevations over winter and consume plants. Here, you can see an example of the difference in aspen growth inside versus outside a fence that excludes elk.

Pacific lamprey ammocoete, tail pattern.

River lamprey (L. ayresii), macrophthalmia, dentition.

This bighead carp was collected on the Illinois River to learn more about the anatomy and physiology of Asian carp. This information will guide the development of potential biological or chemical controls as part of an integrated pest management approach for natural resource managers.

A researcher stands in front of a large wet slab avalanche debris deposit in Glacier National Park, Montana. The start zone and fracture line can be seen near the top of the ridge in the upper middle part of the image.

Snow removal operators work carefully to remove a large accumulation of avalanche debris on Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana. 

An Alaska Fish and Game technician poses with an invasive northern pike (Esox lucius) taken from Alexander Creek in the Susitna Basin of south-central Alaska.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employee holds a pallid sturgeon caught on a trotline at Lock and Dam 1 on the Osage River.  The concrete pillars and walls in the background of the photo are what remains of the Lock and Dam 1 structure.   

Researchers with the Alaska Fish and Game travel along Alexander Creek in the Susitna Basin of south-central Alaska. The team is on their way to a back country base-camp for a study examining the preferred diet of invasive northern pike (Esox lucius).