Images

Photo 11 of 15: Intersection of South Denning Drive and West Comstock Ave. Sinkhole is edging close to Denning Drive. One block of Comstock Ave was swallowed. View to south on Denning Drive adjacent to the sinkhole.

Photo 12 of 15: Water level has risen and is now apparent in sinkhole since pool collapse and house swallowed. View to south across the sinkhole. The rising water level is likely a result of the debris plugging the conduit into the Floridan aquifer. Water level is rising to assume a position more consistent with that of the surficial aquifer. (3 p.m.)

Photo 13 of 15: Water level in sinkhole chimney continued to rise. View to east across the sinkhole. (6 p.m.)

Photo 14 of 15: Remnants of community pool in sinkhole. View to east across the sinkhole.

Alligator in Everglades Park, Florida.

A female Burmese python (Python molurus) on her nest with eggs. Photo by Jemeema Carrigan, University of Florida. Courtesy of Skip Snow, National Park Service. Used with permission.

Yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) specimen captured at Big Cypress National Preserve. Photo courtesy of Skip Snow, National Park Service.

A Burmese python (Python molurus) peeks over the head of an alligator that holds the python's body in its mouth in Everglades National Park. Photo courtesy of Lori Oberhofer, National Park Service.

The Faka Union Canal Weir #1 (Collier County, Florida) helps create a downstream hydrological haven for manatees. During the cold winter months, the right flow conditions can maintain a salinity gradient known as a halocline that traps warm water near the bottom of the residential canals at Port of the Islands.

A manatee swims downstream from a weir in Faka Union Canal known to create a strong salinity gradient downstream.

This aerial view shows how Faka Union Canal (visible as a straight channel of water) connects the coastal environment, where manatees feed, to freshwater inlets. The Ten Thousand Islands region in the foreground supports sea grass beds where manatees feed.

Bruce Bernard (left) and Scott McBride (right) obtain water and sediment samples at Egmont Key which is about 1 mile west of the mouth of Tampa Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. Samples were collected June 14, 2010 prior to the possible occurrence of oil contamination from the Deepwater Horizon's oil well.

Shallow coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands are in jeopardy due to climate warming and ocean acidification.

Florida panther rests in it's Southwest Florida habitat.

A family of Florida panthers walking in the night.

Florida panther; Puma concolor coryi, remains one of the most endangered mammals in the world.