Building an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea.

Building an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea.

Scientists inspecting a dead walrus.

Moonbeams reflecting off the Beaufort Sea.

A Chesapeake waterman plying his trade on a cold winter morning.

The bounty of the Chesapeake - bushel baskets of blue crab - Callinectes sapidus - and a profusion of Atlantic menhaden - Brevoortia tyrannus - on the deck.

The bounty of the Chesapeake -barrels of blue crab - Callinectes sapidus.

Cape Hatteras, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay as observed from a NOAA satellite with an infra-red sensor.

Horned pondweed - Zannichellia palustrus - growth usually peaks in June and begins covering the beaches. Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) provides food and habitat for a wide variety of biota, but has been in serious decline for the last several decades.

Horned pondweed - Zannichellia palustrus - growth usually peaks in June and begins covering the beaches. Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) provides food and habitat for a wide variety of biota, but has been in serious decline for the last several decades.

Swallow-tail butterflies on a pebbled beach.

View across a marsh at Smith Island.

The harbor at Smith Island.

An osprey - Pandion haliaetus - landing on a nesting platform on St. George's Island.

Fishing boats in the harbor at Smith Island

Wetlands in the vicinity of Jamestown, Virginia

Reproduction of early English vessels at Jamestown, Virginia.

A typical "home-made" skiff used by St. Mary's County watermen.

Pulling an oyster-dredge full of oysters aboard the skipjack "DEE" of St. Mary's

Preparing Maryland Blue Crabs for the dinner table. Passing on the knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay from generation to generation.

Preparing Maryland Blue Crabs for the dinner table. Passing on the knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay from generation to generation.

Schools of Cow-nosed Rays - Rhinoptera bonasus - are a familiar sight in the Chesapeake Bay.

Five Cow-nosed Rays - Rhinoptera bonasus - gliding toward the photographer with both wing tips up.

A Cow-nosed ray - Rhinoptera bonasus - near the surface, near the mouth of the Patuxent River.

A space shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral provides a dramatic site for beach-goers.

Although few blue crabs in 1999, some grew to large size. A six-inch ruler was not long enough to measure these crabs caught in the Patuxent River.

Oyster setting tanks at the University of Maryland Horn Point Environmental Laboratory on the Choptank River. Used by the Oyster Recovery Partnership, oyster larvae are placed in these tanks for two days, allowing them to set on shells where they stay and continue to grow for the rest of their lives.

"Buy boat" ROBERT LEE docked at the University of Maryland Horn Point Environmental Laboratory on the Choptank River. Used by the Oyster Recovery Partnership to transplant oyster spat to permanent oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay.

Volunteers assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership in their effort to transplant oyster spat before the population is decimated by the Stylochus flatworm. Pallets are loaded with bags containing the spat and brought on board the ROBERT LEE.

Shells containing oyster spat raised by the Oyster Recovery Partnership are piled up waiting to be moved to a permanent oyster bed off of the Severn River.

Shells containing oyster spat raised by the Oyster Recovery Partnership are piled up waiting to be moved to a permanent oyster bed off of the Severn River.

A firehose is employed by the Captain of the ROBERT LEE to spread oyster spat reared by the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

A firehose is employed by the Captain of the ROBERT LEE to spread oyster spat reared by the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

Volunteers assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership in their effort to transplant oyster spat before the population is decimated by the Stylochus flatworm. Pallets are loaded with bags containing the spat and brought on board the ROBERT LEE.

Volunteers assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership in their effort to transplant oyster spat before the population is decimated by the Stylochus flatworm. Pallets are loaded with bags containing the spat and brought on board the ROBERT LEE.

Volunteers assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership in their effort to transplant oyster spat before the population is decimated by the Stylochus flatworm. Hatchery bags are stacked aboard the ROBERT LEE.

Volunteers assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership in their effort to transplant oyster spat before the population is decimated by the Stylochus flatworm. Workers from the Bay Bus Partnership Project are in the water preparing pallets of hatchery bags to be loaded aboard the ROBERT LEE.

"Buy boat" ROBERT LEE off the University of Maryland Horn Point Environmental Laboratory on the Choptank River. Used by the Oyster Recovery Partnership, Partnership to transplant oyster spat to permanent oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay.

"Buy boat" ROBERT LEE, working with the Oyster Recovery Partnership, maneuvers among pallets of oyster hatchery bags. Volunteers from the Bay Bus Partnership Project in the water prepare the pallets to be loaded onto the boat.

Shells containing oyster spat raised by the Oyster Recovery Partnership are bagged and placed on pallets to grow before being transplanted to a designated oyster reef elsewhere in the Chesapeake Bay.

Shells containing oyster spat raised by the Oyster Recovery Partnership are bagged and placed on pallets to grow before being transplanted to a designated oyster reef elsewhere in the Chesapeake Bay.

Volunteers from the Bay Bus Partnership Project assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership in their effort to transplant oyster spat before the population is decimated by the Stylochus flatworm. Preparing pallets of hatchery bags to be loaded aboard the ROBERT LEE.

A small reef of oysters and mussels found in the Choptank River.

The shoreline at the University of Maryland Horn Point Laboratory is a combination of sandy beach and rock revetment.

2 osprey - Pandion haliaetus - on nest and gulls in the background lining the jetty at the University of Maryland Horn Point Environmental Laboratory.

Four osprey - Pandion haliaetus - on nest off of the University of Maryland Horn Point Environmental Laboratory on the Choptank River.

Several schools of Alewives, or "bait fish", can be seen breaking the surface on a calm Chesapeake Bay day. These fish are an important food source for Rockfish , Bluefish, and other large fish in the bay. Bay Bridge can be seen in the background.

Fishing boat south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near the Severn River.

A Maryland Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, caught in a hand net.

A Maryland Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, caught in a hand net.