The 27 most captivating photos of the US Coast Guard in 2017

From Guam in the Pacific to Puerto Rico in the Atlantic, from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the equator, the US Coast Guard patrols and protects the world's largest exclusive economic zone, covering nine time zones.

It is one of the five military branches, a member of intelligence community, a first-responder and humanitarian service, and a law-enforcement and regulatory agency that defends more than 100,000 miles of US coastline and inland waterways.

On an average day, the Coast Guard's more than 56,000 personnel - operating on 243 Cutters, 201 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and more than 1,600 boats - carry out 45 search-and-rescue cases, saves 10 lives, seizes 874 pounds of cocaine, performs 24 security boardings, screens 360 merchant vessels, does 105 maritime inspections, and assists the movement of $8.7 billion worth of goods and commodities in and around the US.

Below, you can see photos from a year in the life of the Coast Guard - where no day is ordinary: