Intertidal biofilm in San Francisco Bay, California

Intertidal biofilm, a slimy green layer of fungi and bacteria growing on top of mud, inhabits mudflats and is an essential component of shorebirds’ diets in San Francisco Bay, California. This photograph was taken when NUSO joined researchers from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center, the USGS Western Geographic Science Center, the USGS Spectroscopy Lab, and California State University Monterey Bay for a multi-scale hyperspectral remote sensing data collection mission in May 2021.