Ocean Blog
Humpback Whales in Antarctica: What Are the Whales Doing?Published by: Ari Friedlaender - Feb 7, 2013Humpback whales (Megaptera novaengliae) are the most abundant baleen whale in the nearshore waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. They, along with millions of penguins, seals, seabirds, and other whales, feed primarily on Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) during summer months. |
 A humpback whale breaching in Antarctic waters.
Ari Friedlaender
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Reflections on the Successful Search for the Giant SquidPublished by: Clyde Roper - Jan 22, 2013I have been at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History since 1966, studying and reporting on all kinds of octopuses and squids. But I’ve always had a particular fascination with the mysterious and elusive giant squid. My interest in giant squid began in graduate school when my professor showed me two small, incomplete, stinky specimens—some of the few specimens in the world at that time. |
 This still of a giant squid is from the first video filmed of the species in its natural habitat.
NHK/NEP/Discovery Channel
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Underwater WWII Wrecks – Pollution or Cultural Heritage?Published by: Mark J. Spalding - Jan 15, 20132012 marked the 70th anniversary of a series of World War II battles in the Pacific Ocean and on its islands, which are collectively known as the “Pacific theatre.” While the battles are long over, thousands of wrecked boats and planes from many nations still rest on the seafloor. These wreck sites represent a twin legacy: one a memorial gravesite and historical marker, and the other a potential source of pollution from the wrecks into the sea. |
 Fish swim around the wreck of the HMT Bedfordshire, an Arctic fishing trawler that was converted into an anti-submarine warship during World War II, and sunk off the coast of North Carolina. |
Acrobatic Blue Whales Do the Twist While FeedingPublished by: Ari Friedlaender - Jan 8, 2013I have a vivid childhood memory of sitting under the Blue Whale model hanging in the Natural History Museum in London, eating an ice cream and wondering “How in the world did that whale get so big?” These days we are closer to knowing the answer. Over the past several years, a group of researchers have been studying how blue whales eat to better understand how such a big animal can survive on such small food. |
 Ari Friedlaender, a research scientist at the Duke University Marine Lab, tags a blue whale.
Jeremy Goldbogen
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One Fish, Two Fish: Estimating Undiscovered SpeciesPublished by: Andy Solow - Dec 20, 2012My father once told me that the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who believe that the world is divided into two kinds of people and those who don’t. Wherever you come down on this particular issue, it’s clear that there is a common—if not always healthy—human impulse to classify objects into groups. In biology, this falls to taxonomists, whose job it is to classify living (and once-living) organisms into species, species into genera, genera into families, and so on. |
 These zooplankton collected on a research cruise include a jellyfish, a lanternfish, a snipe eel, two large orange shrimp, a fuzzy pyrosome (which is bioluminescent), and several smaller animals.
Exploring the Inner Space of the Celebes Sea 2007 Exploration, NOAA-OE.
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Marine Parasites: Crazy…and Really Cool!Published by: Katrina Lohan - Dec 5, 2012Marine parasites may be small in size, but they can be present in very high numbers and put together can weigh even more than all the top predators in an estuary or bay ecosystem! They play an important role in keeping their host population from growing out of control—allowing them to exert power over food webs and ecosystem function. High parasite diversity is even an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. |
 The whitish spots on this fish are individual parasitic trematode worms.
Hans Hillewaert
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The Big Five of the Ocean: Exploring the Waters of East AfricaPublished by: Caine Delacy - Nov 21, 2012
When we think "Africa," we think of the "Big Five"—lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinos—that crisscross the African Savannah. Few would imagine that there could be more natural beauty on offer. But there is: underwater. |
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Behind the Photo: The Primal OceanPublished by: Brian Skerry - Oct 31, 2012
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40 Years of National Marine SanctuariesPublished by: Matt Dozier - Oct 24, 2012
In 1872, the United States did something remarkable. We set aside one of our greatest natural treasures, Yellowstone National Park, for future generations to enjoy and appreciate. The logic was simple: this place is truly special, and we have a national responsibility to take care of it. |
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The Great Barrier Reef – Going, Going, Gone???Published by: Nancy Knowlton - Oct 2, 2012Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (or the GBR as it is known to reef aficionados) stretches for more than 2,300 kilometers (over 1,429 miles) and can be seen from outer space. This largest barrier reef in the world is both a national icon and a global treasure that was recognized as a World Heritage site over thirty years ago. |
 This colorful coral lives in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is rapidly shrinking due to human impacts.
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