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Oct 14 2010 - 5:25pm
Corals are just one of the many marine life forms that can be modeled in crochet. Jellyfish, like the one pictured here, starfish, sea snails, and kelp are some of the other organisms that contributors to the Institute For Figuring’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef have created over time.
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May 24 2012 - 10:54am
These star-shaped grains of sand, collected from southern Japan, look like miniature works of art -- but they were not sculpted by an artist. They are the shells of microscopic organisms called foraminifera, which build intricate shells from the calcium carbonate they collect while drifting through...
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Dec 4 2009 - 3:05pm
Coral reefs support an amazing array of life forms many of them beautiful, some of them downright bizarre. Dive in and take a look through this photo gallery.
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May 31 2012 - 1:26pm
The Indonesian Archipelago is the heart of the Coral Triangle, a biodiversity hotspot for marine and terrestrial life. This diversity forms an important part of Indonesia's natural, cultural, and economic heritage, its coral reefs alone support nearly 6 million people with direct...
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Jul 5 2011 - 1:19pm
Dr. Carole Baldwin, a research zoologist and fish expert with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, gives viewers an inside-look at the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP). She and her colleagues are trying to understand the biodiversity in coral reefs near Curaçao, an island in...
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Feb 27 2013 - 9:38pm
Around 100 million years ago, grass from land adapted to live and reproduce while submerged in seawater—the modern-day seagrasses. This sea invasion by land plants happened four separate times, resulting in four unrelated families of 50-60 total seagrass species, which can be found on the coast of...
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Apr 21 2010 - 11:28am
Scientists journey to the isolated island of Moorea on a quest to catalog every life form big enough to pick up with tweezers—from mountaintop to seafloor. Get up close and personal with researchers in the field and see how they combine high-tech equipment and old-fashioned elbow grease to tackle...
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Apr 29 2013 - 9:11am
Like other sea snakes, the turtle-headed sea snake (Emydocephalus annulatus) has fangs and venom. But its venom is weak so, instead of defending with a bite, the species tends to react to danger by swimming back to a crack or crevice to hide. For food, the sea snake sneaks around coral reefs...
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Jul 31 2012 - 1:06pm
About DROP
DROP is a multidisciplinary Smithsonian project exploring the diversity of tropical deep reefs off the coast of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. Deep reefs are natural extensions of shallow water reefs. But because they lie beyond SCUBA diving depths, deep reefs are underexplored...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This brightly colored squat lobster collected in Moorea is a common find among the coral heads. Although called lobsters, this group of crustaceans is more closely related to hermit crabs than to true lobsters.
Learn about why this squat lobster was collected in our Scientists Catalogue Life on the...
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Aug 2 2012 - 2:30pm
Far away from the volcanic CO2 seeps, the water is unaffected and a healthy coral reef flourishes with a diversity of coral species. Closer to the seeps where the water is acidic, the corals barely even grow.
Read more about how reef scientist Laetitia Plaisance uses carbon dioxide seeps to study...
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Feb 28 2013 - 10:18am
How many animals swim in the sea? It's not easy to count them all. To get a feel for the ocean's diversity, scientists, such as those involved in the Census of Marine Life, sail out on research cruises to collect and count as many animals as they can find! Shown here is a sample of zooplankton...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This is the first photograph of a live giant squid (Architeuthis) in its natural habitat. It was taken in 2004 by two Japanese researchers who had suspended a long line from their research vessel with a camera and bait attached. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.
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Sep 21 2011 - 3:23pm
There are different types of beaches and multiple factors that influence the formation of sand. Many beaches may look alike, but they are actually very different from each other. Wave patterns, geology, and other factors shape the composition, size, texture, and color of sand. Grains can be big or...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Sarah Gotheil, from IUCN Global Marine Programme, snapped this photo in the course of her research into fragile species and ecosystems. A new project led by IUCN will unveil the mysteries of southern Indian Ocean seamounts and help improve conservation and management of resources. Two research...
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Aug 13 2010 - 3:10pm
Last week, the United Nations’ World Heritage Convention went blue. Two of the largest and healthiest marine protected areas on our planet—the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii—have now gained World Heritage status. Together, they...
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Jul 14 2011 - 11:11am
Smithsonian zoologists inside the Curasub, a 5-person submersible. They're exploring the biodiversity of the deep reefs off Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. Read more and watch videos about the work in our "Summer in a Sub" blog series.
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May 12 2011 - 4:36pm
The ocean is not as natural as it once was. Where there used to be large predators that we took for sea monsters, now there are tiny fish and jellyfish. But there are a few untouched places left in the ocean, remote oases of life where sharks are the kings of the underwater world. These last wild...
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Oct 12 2011 - 4:56pm
In the spring of 2011, a research crew from Oceana spent two months in the brackish Baltic Sea. The Baltic faces challenges from pollution, algae blooms, over fishing, and invasive species. Oceana researchers gathered data, samples, photographs, and videos with the goal of proposing an...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The fish at left stands out against the lighter waters above. At right the same fish—now with bioluminescent structures on its underside lit—blends in. Many deep sea creatures have evolved this adaptation (known as counterillumination), which enables them to hide in an environment with few hiding...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This male giant squid is on display in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. It measures about 2.7 meters (9 feet) long and weighs a little more than 45.5 kilograms (100 pounds). Found off the coast of Spain, it is on loan to the Smithsonian from the...
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Jul 8 2011 - 10:25am
Have you ever seen a creature so unusual? This fish (22 cm long) is called a sea toad and studying them requires luck and the opportunity to descend into the deep waters where they live.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This creek lined with mangroves is located near the Smithsonian Institution’s field station in Bocas del Toro, Panama. The tangled roots support an amazing array of life. Learn more about mangroves in the Ocean Portal's mangrove section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Dr. Clyde Roper, Smithsonian zoologist and squid expert, tries to measure up to a giant squid specimen (Architeuthis) from New Zealand. The squid wins. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid featured story.
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