KSC-2010-3176

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a great white egret fishes in Launch Complex 39. Egrets use a foot-foraging method to fish, standing motionless in the shallows and raking the bottom to attract fish which they quickly capture in their bills. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge overlaps with Kennedy Space Center property and provides a habitat for 330 species of birds, including egrets. A variety of other wildlife - 117 kinds of fish, 65 types of amphibians and reptiles, 31 different mammals, and 1,045 species of plants - also inhabit the refuge. For information on the refuge, visit http:__www.fws.gov_merrittisland_Index.html. For information on Kennedy Space Center, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_kennedy. Photo credit: NASA_Dimitri Gerondidakis