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.

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

The sex of a blue crab is determined by the shape of the "apron". The male apron, shown here, is shaped like a rocket. Females have either a "V" shape (immature) or a very wide apron with a small tip (mature.)

The beach at Sandy Point State Park.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge as seen from behind Sandy Point State Park.

NOAA Ship RAINIER returning to home from field season. The ship is in the locks between Puget Sound and Lake Union.

Boca de Quadra - cirrus clouds reflecting on still waters

Boca de Quadra - an early dusting of snow on the surrounding mountains

Boca de Quadra

The tide gage installation at Cherry Point

Performing maintenance on the tide gage installation at Cherry Point. Removing marine growth.

Looking back from the pier at Cherry Point. Cherry Point is on the Straits of Georgia in Whatcom County, just south of the Canadian border.

Friday Harbor area on the east side of San Juan Island

The tide staff at Skamokawa - a ghost town on the Lower Columbia River

The tide house at Skamokawa - a ghost town on the Lower Columbia River

An old church at the bridge at Skamokawa - a ghost town on the Lower Columbia River.

The tide house on the pier at Port Angeles

Inspecting the Cherry Point tide gage orifices.

Inspecting the Cherry Point tide gage orifices.

Orifice of A.I. &NXG tide gage installation at Cherry Point.

Interior of tide house showing A.I. &NXG tide gage installation at Cherry Point.

The tide house which houses an A.I.&NXG tide gage installation.

The tide house which houses an A.I.&NXG tide gage installation.

The Northwest Seafoods Company Pier. Near the location of first Coast Survey in Washington in the early 1850's.

Performing reconnaissance for tide gage installation on the Olympic Fish Company pier.

Performing reconnaissance for tide gage installation on the Olympic Fish Company

Rustic appearing Northwest Seafoods Company Pier.

Rustic appearing Northwest Seafoods Company Pier.

The tide gage installation on the Northwest Seafoods Company Pier.

Andy Allen measuring distance from mark on tide staff to location on pier top. Longview is close to the end of tidal influence in the Columbia River, being 66 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean.