2026 Alaska Research Surveys Photo Gallery
Curious about Alaskan Research surveys? Dive into our photo gallery showcasing snapshots captured by field scientists during their 2026 research expeditions.
The Groundfish Assessment Program regularly conducts bottom trawl surveys to assess the condition of groundfish and shellfish stocks in Alaskan marine waters.
The Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering Program combines midwater trawl surveys with acoustic echo integration technology to assess the population status of Alaska walleye pollock.
Photo galleries from other year's posted as well.
Step 1: Go out to the storage hanger to bundle and pack the survey nets on the NOAA campus in Seattle. Can't catch the f...
Step 2: Pack up ALL the other survey gear that is stored at the NOAA campus in Seattle, WA. We send up a lot of sampling...
Step 3: Personal gear. Every scientist on board sends up their personal gear for there 3-6 week stay on the chartered ve...
Boarding the airplane in Anchorage, AK on the way to start the Bering Sea survey. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Sophia Wasserma...
The first glimpse of Unalaska Island when approching Dutch Harbor airport via plane. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Sophia Wasse...
View of the survey vessels between the hills as they steam to the dock in Dutch Harbor. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Mar...
The F/V Alaska Knight, which is one of the two vessels surveying the eastern Bering Sea this year. Credit: NOAA Fisherie...
FV Ocean Explorer sits at dock during survey set up. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
Loading gear today onto one of the chartered fishing vessels on which we conduct the surveys. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emi...
Nets laid out on the deck of one of the survey vessels ported in Dutch Harbor. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
The FlowCytoBot outside of its housing is being calibrated and getting ready to snap shots of zooplankton and phytoplank...
Sunshine! A rarity in the Bering Sea! The deck is nearly gleaming with the great weather we are having on the FV Northwe...
A red king crab poses in front of the A-frame on the deck of the FV Northwest Explorer. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Mar...
A tiny juvenile red king crab on a scientists hand with waves in the background. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
Scienists are tying a tracking tag to a red king crab. Once secure, the crab will be released and its movements will be ...
Who wore it best? Three hyas crab pose wearing very fashionable sea anenomes and sponges atop their carapaces. Credit: N...
A teeny tiny Longfinger Hermit (Pagurus rathbuni) on the specimen table. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
A arrowtooth flounder, northern rock sole, waddled eelpout, and eulachon. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
A flathead sole. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
A northern rock sole. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
A yellow Irish lord. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
The humble Pacific herring is a critical forage fish of the Bering Sea. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Emily Markowitz
The last of the ice sheets in Bristol Bay at sunset. Credit: Bill Maher, First Mate on the F/V Northwest Explorer
Twilight in the Bering Sea at 3am on June 13, 2026. Credit: Bill Maher
Baby snails! A species of snail lays large solitary eggs that grow multiple baby snails. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Rebecca ...
This orange anemone is an Urticina species. When it comes out of the water, all of its tentacles retract and forms a vol...
Organisms on deck don't always look like their photos. This is the tentacle-shedding anemone aka "pom-pom" anemone. The ...
Does this resemble a raspberry to you? Well, the common name for Gersemia species is a sea raspberry. This type of soft ...
Whoa! That's some crown on a Pacific lyre crab. This crab has 2 different anemones attached to its carapace. The relatio...
Discovered in 2014, this gastropod is missing its shell! Just kidding, this is Onchidiopsis clarkii and its (very soft) ...
Here there be monsters! More specifically a Bering wolf fish. Watch out for those teeth! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Rebecca ...
It's a...ghost rainbow! Also known as a fog-bow, sea-dog *yes really*, fog-dog or white rainbow (but ghost rainbow sound...
I spy with my little eyes...something shrimpy. This little one is a Pandalid shrimp. The exact species has me stumped, s...
Would you take me home? This guy is a type of poacher fish. Specifically, it's a sturgeon poacher. It's name comes from ...
Hello there green eyes! An Aleutian hermit crab is peering out of its shell. The shell is also home to a colony of barna...
This scallop is showing off it's eyes and sensory tentacles. The eyes can detect changes in light and the sensory tentac...
Here we have 3 different species of sea stars. From top to bottom: mud seastar, scarlet seastar, and... this one has no ...
Beautiful day to be working on deck in the Aleutians. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Bethany Riggle
Kamchatka coral, or bubble gum coral, as we lovingly call it, is a large and colorful addition to some of our samples. C...
Fuzzy crabs are aptly named, as you can tell. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Bethany Riggle
Red Irish Lords, which are a species of sculpin, can have such beautiful coloration in comparison to their Yellow Irish ...
Arcturus is a genus of marine isopods found in Alaska. If you look closely at the antennae, you will see baby Arcturus c...
Once in a blue moon, we get lucky enough to see a longnose lancetfish on our surveys! Look at those teeth! Credit: NOAA ...
Myctophids are a species of lanternfish found in Alaska. If you look closely on their bellies, you can see spots that ar...
The lumpsucker trifecta! From left to right: Smooth Lumpsucker, Spiny Lumpsucker, and Alaska Lumpsucker. Credit: NOAA Fi...
A fully intact Emarginate snailfish, found at a depth of 350 meters! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Bethany Riggle
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