Images

Unknown lake in Mt. Rainier National Park

Beam trawling in Lower Granite Reservoir on the Snake River.

Pacific sand lance captured in a beach seine. Sand lance are a forage fish that underpin Puget Sound food webs and are intimately connected to Puget Sound beaches. The fish spend a portion of their time buried in the sand and eggs are laid on the upper beach, making healthy beaches critical to the success of this species.

Back at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory office, these data are merged with airborne LiDAR data to calculate lake volume.

USGS research ecologist Jeff Duda collects discharge data on a side channel of the Elwha River. Two large dams on the Elwha River are being incrementally removed from 2011 to 2013 to restore river function in an important salmon-bearing river.

Juvenile sand lance collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.  Like surf smelt, sand lance are an important forage fish in Puget Sound.  

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists identify fish collected in a beach seine while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.

Tidepool snailfish collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA. 

Eelgrass beds such as this one found on Bainbridge Island, WA have been identified as a possible primary source of energy to the food chain and may also serve as nursery areas for juvenile forage fish.

Crescent gunnel collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA. 

Plainfin midshipman collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA. 

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists haul a beach seine over an eelgrass bed while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists deploy a beach seine while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt in Eagle Harbor, WA.  

Sanddab collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.  

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists deploy a beach seine while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.  

Adult surf smelt collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.  

Three size classes of juvenile surf smelt collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA. 

Juvenile surf smelt and sand lance collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.  

Harbor seals are a predator of forage fish such as surf smelt and sand lance.  These two were observed lounging on a breakwall in Liberty Bay, WA. 

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists Lisa Gee, Collin Smith, and Ryan Tomka display a bycatch of perch collected in a beach seine while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.

Market squid collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.