Alaska has an extensive coastline, longer than that of all the other US states combined.
Some estimate it to be more than 49,000 miles lone, and most of it is remote and uninhabited.
The project was developed in 1989 for access damage triggered by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Tracy Arm, Snettisham Peninsula, Southeast Alaska August 04, 2008.
The shooting schedule was very precise.
On each of those days they only had a 4-hour low tide window.
Satellite images for those exact times wouldnt have been possible.
Even if it were, clouds would have probably blocked the view.
We have some very complex shorelines, said NOAA Fisheries biologist Mandy Lindeberg.
Small island groups that you have to circle around, rock reefs, inlets, deltas.
We cant get the detail and scale we need for habitat mapping unless were flying tight around those features.
The images themselves are some of the finest examples of scientific photography.
All photos credit: ShoreZone.
Grewingk Glacier River, Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet.
June 24, 2009.
Rivers emanating from retreating glaciers carry large volumes of sediment, producing braided river patterns with multiple channels.
Point Nowell, Knitght Island Passage, Prince William Sound, July 3, 2004.
Prince of Wales Passage, Prince William Sound July 1, 2004.
Sea cliffs in Prince William Sound erode primarily by thermal expansion of freezing groundwater seepage and rain water.
The broken rock particles tumble into the sea and accumulate as talus at the base of the sea cliff.
Ocean waves and currents act only to remove the finer particles from the debris pile.
The vertical structure of the columnar basalt is emphasized in this image by intertidal plants.
Tignagvik Point, Kamishak Bay, Cook Inlet June 25, 2009.
Waves erode coastal rocks and often create shore platforms like this one.
These platforms become colonized by marine plants and animals and support prolific algal growth.
Mills Bay, Kasaan Bay, Prince of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska July 13, 2007.
Eventually, a spit forms, linking the mainland to the offshore island.
This throw in of spit is called a Tombolo.
you’re free to get a sense for the underlying sediments based on the colors of the vegetation.
Cape Magdalena, Dall island, Southeast Alaska July 28, 2007.
This exposes the relatively soft marble to weathering, and it erodes faster than the harder surrounding rock.
Layers of shale and slate are interspersed with layers of marble, causing the alternating light and dark bands.
Tracy Arm, Southeast Alaska Mainland August 4, 2008.
This area was recently exposed by retreating glaciers.
Brownson Island, Ernest Sound, Southeast Alaska May 06, 2008.
A tidal race is a rapid formed by fast-moving tidal currents rushing through a constriction.
As the tide rushes out, water surges through these narrows in turbulent rapids and whirlpools.
East Bight, Nagai Island, Shumagin Islands, The Aleutians May 16, 2011.
Once formed, beach cusps can be self-sustaining if the prevailing wave pattern remains stable.
Oruktalik Entrance, near Tapkaurak Point, Beaufort Sea August 1, 2012.
Each spit likely represents a pulse of sediment deposited during a storm.
Mary Sachs Entrance, near Prudhoe Bay, Beaufort Sea August 4, 2012.
McClure Islands August 4, 2012.
This barrier island persists as storms and pack ice continue to deposit logs and sediment on its shores.
Thaw Lake, Prudhoe Bay August 5, 2012.
The low tundra is gradually becoming submerged as the permafrost melts and subsides.
At some point, this pipeline may need to move.
Between Fish Creek and Nechelik Channel, Harrison Bay August 6, 2012.
A landscape disappears as tundra slips below sea level.
As tundra thaws, it subsides, resulting in a characteristic polygon fracture pattern.
The sea invades along these fractures and floods the sunken centers of the polygons.
South of Cape Halkett, Harrison Bay August 6, 2012.
Sources:NOAA/Alaska Dispatch News
