Images

A Black-legged Kittiwake with two chicks at Gull Island, Alaska.

Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and Common Murres have all been tested for and contained harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins in Alaska. Since 2015, the USGS has worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop testing methods and research projects to better understand the geographic extent, timing and impacts of algal toxins in Alaska marine ecosystems.

Telephoto views of water in the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u taken during a helicopter lidar survey on July 25, 2019 (left), when the pond was first observed, and a USGS overflight on August 1, 2019 (right). The pond grew slightly in size and depth between the two dates; an "X" marks the same rock in both photos for comparison.

Lesser Snow Geese are captured using a helicopter to herd them into large pens to await banding.

USGS field biologist Andrea Mott displays a recently marked Lesser Snow Goose.

USGS hydrologic technician collecting field parameters during the 2019 well inventory at a farm and ranch in the north central portion of the Fort Peck reservation.

USGS Scientist Sarah Schoen with a plankton sample to test for harmful algal bloom toxins in Cook Inlet, Alaska.

USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) is helping to build capacity in ecosystem restoration on the Navajo Nation with a series of projects in collaboration with Navajo Nation Department of Natural Hertiage, Dine Native Plant Program, and the Native-led non-profit Tolani Lake Enterprises.

Two USGS research technicians walk across a sparsely vegetated sandbar towards the Missouri River while surveying for piping plovers. 

Pyramid Lake, Nevada, is one of the last remaining strongholds for lacustrine Lahontan cutthroat trout; almost all other large lake populations have undergone population declines or extirpation as a result of habitat degradation, overharvest, and water diversions, all compounded by the stocking of nonnative species.

Preparing the boat for isokinetic water sampling using the equal discharge increment method on the Alsek River.

Abandoned Farm on the Northwest Corner of the Fort Peck Reservation

Fallow field on the left and dryland wheat on the right, northwestern corner of the Fort Peck Reservation (near Larslan, MT)

View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.

View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.

View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.

The sampling team (Sean Burril of BOEM; Ashley Stanek of USGS ASC and Sarah Laske of USGS ASC) removes individual fish from floating net pens, identify, measure length, and release the fish back to the lagoon.

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.

Alteration associated with mud pots in Yellowstone National Park. Left image is an overview of Artist Paint Pots. Note the white kaolinite alteration in the lower right and the red/pink mud pots near the boardwalk. Right image is charcoal-gray mud from Mud Volcano consisting of kaolinite with fine-grained pyrite and other iron sulfide minerals.

USGS scientist Emma Kelsey drives a survey vessel off the Central California Coast as part of a seabird survey.

Closeup of a wall of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone showing red, orange, and yellow mineral alternation, as well as white veins of silica, in the subsurface alteration zone of a former thermal basin.