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Jan 11 2013 - 10:40am
“I slowly approached this bird resting on the back of a turtle just under the surface of the water. I got the shot just before the tern flew away.” -- Nature's Best photographer, Nuno Sá.
See more beautiful ocean photos in our slideshow of winners from the 2010 Nature's Best Ocean Views photo...
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Jul 25 2012 - 10:16am
A candy basslet (Liopropoma carmabi) was just one of the specimens Smithsonian scientists collected from the deep reefs of Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean. To study biodiversity far below the water's surface, the researchers use a five-person submersible.
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Oct 3 2012 - 9:24am
Scientists have been studying why populations of crown-of-thorns sea stars (Acanthaster planci) have mushroomed in recent decades. Coral reefs can suffer when the sea star's numbers explode because the echinoderm has a healthy appetite and few predators. And they are part of the reason...
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May 8 2013 - 9:26am
The long barbel on the chin of this dragonfish (Stomias boa) has a glowing tip that may attract prey. With its large mouth and sharp, curved teeth, the fish makes quick work of any prey that venture too close. Scaly dragonfish live at depths of 200-1,500 meters (656-4,921 feet) and grow up to 32...
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Dec 18 2012 - 8:47am
This newly-discovered carnivorous sponge (Chondrocladia lyra) was found using robotic submersibles operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute 10,000 feet below the surface in dark waters. It traps small crustacean prey with barbed hooks found along its branch-like limbs....
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Oct 26 2012 - 3:21pm
What do you get when you mix together a hurricane, the remnants of a wintry midwestern storm, and cold Arctic air? The "Frankenstorm," which is what the US National Weather Service renamed Hurricane Sandy as it approached the US east coast during the week before Halloween in 2012. The combination...
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Sep 8 2011 - 3:50pm
This image shows four tropical storm systems in the Atlantic Ocean basin on September 8, 2011. In this arresting image you can see Maria, Katia, Nate, and Lee--all four storm systems--in one NOAA satellite image.
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Nov 21 2012 - 10:19am
New, white growth emerges from a living deep-sea coral sample that was stained pink, enabling ocean scientists to measure its coral growth rate. Find out more about how ocean scientists study deep-sea corals in our Deep-sea Corals article.
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Dec 7 2012 - 9:13am
In Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) nest at the top of a mangrove tree. Many other kinds of birds—as well as insects, frogs, snakes, and lizards—live in the canopy of mangroves. More about mangroves can be found in our Mangroves featured story.
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Nov 5 2012 - 10:41am
Like other cephalopods, the common cuttlefish (Sepia officials) is no dummy. But while octopuses are quick to learn manual tasks like opening jars, cuttlefish have a different skillset: the social.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Dip your head below the water's surface in a mangrove forest and an entirely new ecosystem is revealed. The twisting mangrove roots, which appear to float unrooted in the water, support a great diversity of life—including sea anemones, brittle stars, and sea urchins. The roots also serve as a...
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May 29 2012 - 11:42am
Great White Sharks are stealthy hunters and the secret is in their skin. Shark skin is covered by tiny flat V-shaped scales, called dermal denticals, that are more like teeth than fish scales. These denticles decrease drag and turbulence, allowing the shark to swim faster and more quietly. Olympian...
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Nov 30 2012 - 10:24am
This guineafowl moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) is one of about 200 species of moray eels found in tropical and subtropical coral reefs. Moray eels are a type of bony fish. Many species, like this one with a brown body and white spots similar to a guineafowl, are named after their distinct...
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Sep 11 2012 - 9:45am
Imagine an adult person – now triple that size. That’s the size of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The biggest great white sharks can reach up to 20 feet long, but most are smaller. The average female is 15-16 feet long, while males reach 11-13 feet. More about the great white shark...
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Jul 12 2012 - 11:12am
Many sperm whales stranded on beaches or caught by whalers exhibit telltale circular scars like these. Only one thing could have made them: the strong suckers that line the giant squid’s eight arms and two long feeding tentacles. Older sperm whales have so many scars that they overlap each other....
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Aug 15 2012 - 9:45am
The fossil tooth whorl of the ancient shark Helicoprion, dating back 290 million years before present. For a long time, people didn't know what the shark looked like—but, thanks to a CT scan of a fossil, researchers finally put the pieces together in 2013. Read more about this story in our ...
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Nov 27 2012 - 9:51am
Researchers with the Smithsonian's Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP) collected this sea toad, Chaunax pictus, off the coast of Honduras in 2011. The team is trying to collect sea toads from around the Caribbean to better understand the group's genetic diversity and distribution.
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May 2 2013 - 9:29am
This venomous box jelly (Chiropsalmus quadrumanus) was collected off the coast of South Carolina. The specimen now resides in the Smithsonian’s marine collection. It's venomous sting can be lethal, especially to small children.
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Oct 5 2012 - 10:01am
Glowing photophores are visible on a squid (Abralia veranyi) viewed from below at low light levels. We think of light as a way to see in the dark. But many species use it to help them hide. This adaptation is called counterillumination. Seen from below, an animal might stand out as a dark shape...
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Mar 13 2013 - 7:21am
Red Pigfish (Bodianus unimaculatus) and Blue Mao-Mao (Scorpis violacea) school at the edge of a cavern in New Zealand's Poor Knights Islands. Read photographer Brian Skerry's story behind this photo on the Ocean Portal blog.
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Aug 8 2012 - 12:06pm
The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) has spread far beyond its native continent, to waters off North and South America, Asia and Australia. It's a voracious eater and poses a nuisance to shellfish farmers. Invasive species have various means of reaching new habitats.
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Aug 6 2012 - 10:05am
Deep-sea species like this dragonfish (Bathophilus indicus) live in cold, dark waters and may go weeks or months between meals. When food is found, the fish uses its impressive teeth—including some on its tongue—to get a tight grip on its prey.
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Dec 31 2012 - 8:49am
A right whale opens its mouth wide, revealing huge plates of baleen hanging from its upper jaw. There are between 200 and 270 baleen plates on each side of a right whale's upper jaw. They work like a giant sieve to catch the whale's food. Strong but flexible, baleen is made of the same substance as...
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Jan 9 2013 - 10:51am
These cancer cells have been treated with discodermolide, a chemical obtained from a sponge that grows on deep-sea coral reefs. It prevents the cells from dividing and spreading. Learn more about deep-sea corals in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea" and about drugs from sea...
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