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A selection of coastal and ocean videos and photographs from across the USGS.

Long-Term Monitoring

The New England Water Science Center has recently deployed buoys for water quality monitoring in Merrimack River Estuary in Salisbury, MA and in Southport and Saugatuck Harbors in CT for two separate research projects. These buoys are equipped with special water quality monitoring equipment that measures properties such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and values associated with dissolved solids and particles.

The buoy in the Merrimack River is out for its second summer season, capturing water quality from May through October as part of a four-year study meant to inform management decisions by providing data on the estuary's condition.

The two buoys placed in the Southport and Saugatuck harbors will stay there for two years, collecting water quality data as part of a larger study to assess nutrient loading into Long Island Sound.

Four USGS scientists deploy a marked buoy platform.
USGS deployed this buoy platform with connected water quality equipment in Southport Harbor, CT in May 2022.

 

A pink-footed shearwater flies over the ocean
A pink-footed shearwater in flight.

By Land and By Sea: Pink-Footed Shearwater

Ducks and geese might be the poster birds for migration, but when it comes to distance, seabirds take the prize. Many species travel between hemispheres each year. One such trans-equatorial migrant is the Pink-footed Shearwater, a relative of petrels and albatrosses. Learn more about migratory birds.

Map of the Americas with dots representing bird locations moving mostly from the west coast of N. America to Chile
Migration patterns of satellite-transmitter tagged pink-footed shearwaters.

 

Examining Rocks from Deep in the Ocean

During the June 2022 expedition to the Escanaba Trough — a spreading center in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern California — one primary area of interest for researchers was to expand knowledge of the mineral resources found at seafloor spreading centers. Among these seafloor resources are potential deposits of minerals, deemed “critical” to national security and commerce, which have supply chains vulnerable to disruption. Learn more about the expedition.

A woman peers at a rock using a hand lens.
Amy Gartman, USGS Research Oceanographer and chief scientist for the Escanaba Trough expedition, examines a mineral sample with a hand lens aboard R/V Thomas G. Thompson.

  

May: American Wetlands Month

From our coastal salt marshes, to New Hampshire's peatlands, to forested swamps in Vermont, to the many expansive habitats connected to our rivers and lakes -- water touches a large portion of New England. These wetland systems store carbon, filter nutrients, and provide food, shelter, and nursery habitat to wide range of plants and animals. Learn more about wetlands.

Beehive Lagoon - Acadia National Park, Maine: View from the Sand Beach
Beehive Lagoon, Acadia National Park, Maine — View from the Sand Beach, September 19, 2015.

 

From Icefield to Ocean

The "From Icefield to Ocean Poster" depicts the important linkages between glaciers and the ocean. The product is a result of Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center research projects and workshops. The team felt that it was particularly important to find a compelling way to communicate these research findings to Alaskans because Alaska’s coastal glaciers are among the most rapidly changing areas on the planet and glacier runoff can influence marine habitats, ocean currents and economic activities.

Explore USGS Ocean Science.

The "From Icefield to Ocean Poster" depicts the important linkages between glaciers and the ocean.
The “From Icefield to Ocean Poster.”

 

A man sits at a computer inside the cabin of a boat with water visible through the window in the background.
USGS Ocean Engineer Gerry Hatcher controls SQUID-5 image acquisition.

Underwater imaging with SQUID-5

Developed by USGS scientists and engineers, SQUID-5, or “Structure-from-motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras,” is towed behind a boat to capture overlapping high-resolution images of the seafloor with accurate GPS locations which are converted into high-resolution, 3-dimensional models of seafloor structures. Here, SQUID-5 is deployed by USGS scientists Mitch Lemon and Gerry Hatcher in Tampa Bay for testing. This round of testing was conducted in preparation for field work being done in the Florida Keys to measure seafloor erosion and inform stakeholders conducting coral reef restoration. Learn more about this work.

Two men deploy scientific equipment mounted on yellow tanks into the bay
The SQUID-5, or Structure-from-motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras, being deployed by Mitch Lemon (SPCMSC, on the left) and Gerry Hatcher (PCMSC, on the right)  in Tampa Bay for testing. Developed by USGS scientists and engineers, SQUID-5 is towed behind a boat to capture overlapping high-resolution images of the seafloor with accurate GPS locations which are converted into high-resolution, 3-dimensional models of seafloor structures. This round of testing was conducted in preparation for field work being done in the Florida Keys to measure seafloor erosion and inform stakeholders conducting coral reef restoration. Visible in the background is the iconic St. Pete Pier in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. 

 

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