Images

The R/V Sallenger tows the SQUID-5 over Looe Key reef with a NOAA Sanctuary boat in the background patrolling the Looe Key area to warn recreational vessels of the ongoing research activity.

This beautiful red jellyfish in the genus Poralia may be an undescribed species. It was seen during the third transect of Dive 20 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, at a depth of 700 meters (2,297 feet).

This large bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) was observed during Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Based on published radial growth rates for this species, this colony is approximately 100 years old!

Towards the end of Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, we continued to observe the scattered rock debris sitting on the lobate and pillow lava outcrops that we’d seen earlier, suggesting that the pinnacle of Retriever Seamount was perhaps a late-stage eruption site and that it remains largely susceptible to continued erosional modification

New bathymetry data of the New England Seamounts collected with the EM 304 MK II variant during the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamount Chain (EX-21-04) expedition, overlaid on the Global Multi-Resolution Topography Data Synthesis grid.

Remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer surveys a large boulder covered in bamboo corals during the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Bamboo corals were locally abundant on these large boulders and more spread out throughout different hard-bottom habitats.

Dave Zawada (left) and Gerry Hatcher prepare to deploy the SQUID-5 off the R/V Sallenger over Looe Key, FL.

During Dive 11 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, we discovered what is defined by the Oslo/Paris Convention (OSPAR) as a multispecies coral garden (100 - 700 coral colonies per every 100 square meter).

Scientists RC Mickey and Dave Thompson from the USGS St.

Scientists RC Mickey and Dave Thompson from the USGS St.

Gerry Hatcher controls SQUID-5 image acquisition over Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA). 

Daniel Ciarletta, PhD is a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow (Research Geologist) at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

Piping Plover walks in wet, pebbly sand along a shoreline.

Credit: Bri Benvenuti, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsnortheast/51218237343/ 

Scientists walk on the beach beside a boardwalk that sits on an eroding bluff at the Rockaway Peninsula, New York. A new study investigates the geologic framework and how human modifications to the coast have influenced sediment availability on this margin.

USGS Research Geologist Jennifer Miselis will conduct shoreface geophysical surveys at the USACE Field Research Facility during DUNEX aboard the LARC, which is shown here being set up for the survey.

A geophysical instrument (chirp) is towed in the water (yellow instrument) from a floating sled to acquire information about the geology below the seafloor in Duck, NC as part of DUNEX. The USACE Field Research Facility can be seen in the background in the upper left corner.

Oceanographer RC Mickey in front of a USGS UTV (utility task vehicle) carrying GPS equipment. He is collecting GPS data for location and elevation of sea turtle crawls and associated beach profiles along Jupiter Beach and Juno Beach, FL.

A groin at Seven Mile Island, New Jersey traps sand and contributes to widening of the barrier beach. This illustrates how human modification and wave processes shape the beach. In May 2021, Andrew Farmer, Chelsea Stalk, and Emily Wei conducted a multibeam bathymetry survey offshore of Seven Mile Island, along the southern coast of New Jersey.

A UTV (utility task vehicle) parked in front of a beach scarp used to collect data that is used in cooperation with FWC, FWS, USGS, and USFSP to understand sea turtle nesting behavior in response to beach renourishment with the goal of advising engineers on how to develop more turtle friendly nourishment desig

Dr. Legna Torres-García is a Research Oceanographer at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.

An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) on the deck of the R/V Sallenger ready to be deployed in the water. The ADCP now sits on the bottom of the ocean off Madeira beach, Florida in 5m water depth.