Images

An adult female Pacific walrus slides into the water as she assesses her surroundings.  The female is 15 years or older based on the length of the tusks.  USGS and the U.S.

Walrus groups hauled on sea ice as far as the eye can see in the Chukchi Sea.  USGS and the U.S.

Alarge, active, and noisy walrus group hauled on sea ice in the Chukchi Sea.  USGS and the U.S.

A dim light shines during the summer Arctic morning in the Chukchi Sea as groups of Pacific walruses rest.  USGS and the U.S.

An adult female walrus with a one-year old offspring.  USGS and the U.S.

Lake Abert, Oregon is one of the 20 terminal lakes identified by USGS partners as priority ecosystems for study by the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA.

The Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA Waterbird Movement Project began tagging American Avocets in March 2023 to track their movements across the landscape. Tracking data from these birds will help scientists better understand why these birds choose to use the terminal lake and wetland habitats they do in the Great Basin.

American Avocet are a bird that relies heavily on the Saline Lakes ecosystem during their spring migration periods. Over 50% of these birds exist here. Part of their use includes using the terminal lakes there to breed. 

A rainbow emerges from an evening shower in the Chukchi Sea.  USGS and the U.S.

Eared grebes in a courtship behavior in the Great Salt Lake. They are one of many migratory birds in the Great Basin that rely on terminal lakes and wetlands in the area to stop rest and feed. 

Photograph of Summer Lake Wildlife Area, an important stopping spot for migratory birds on their spring and fall migration flights. 

Looking east on Bullgate Pond at sunrise with lone tule white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons elgasi) in upper right, Summer Lake Wildlife Area, near Summer Lake, Oregon.

These scientists are working on The Great Salt Lake to determine the amount of water and qualities of it. This will help them in developing better management techniques that will work to support the migratory birds that frequent the area. 

These brine flies are an important fuel source for migratory birds, giving them energy for long flights. 

This passive acoustic recording device has been deployed in Montana (MT) as part of the North American Bat Monitoring Programs (NABat) summertime survey efforts. It has an ultrasonic microphone placed at the top of a 10ft pole that records echolocating bats fro

A Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) collected for methylmercury sampling in Montana.

USGS biologists Steve Matsuoka, Lauren Hitt, and Rachel Richardson search for landbird nests in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Who's who?  These are print casts of front and back paw prints of a grizzly bear (top) and black bear (bottom). The casts on the right are the front paws of each species; the casts on the left are the back.  How do you tell? 

Source: USGS National Wetlands Research Center. Photographer: Brad M. Glorioso. St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Necturus beyeri - Gulf Coast Waterdog

Bat, bird, and insect activity can be monitored with pairs of thermal-imaging cameras mounted on the wind turbines, and automatically recorded to a computer inside the base of the turbine. 

Equipment used during a shore-counted portion of the annual range-wide sea otter census.  On the clipboard is a paper map, with sea otter locations, numbers, behavior and habitat recorded, as well as some other environmental variables.  The spotting scope is used to view sea otters that are far away, and binoculars are used to scan areas for otters.