Today's Catch
Aug 22, 2012
Credit:© 2008 Richard Ling
The largest of the cuttlefish species, Australian Giant Cuttlefish ( Sepia apama ) delight scientists each year as they gather in masses to spawn in northern Spencer Gulf, northwest of Adelaide in Australia. To learn about the giant squid, a relative of the giant cuttlefish, go to our Giant Squid featured story .Read more
Aug 21, 2012
Credit:John Klausmeyer/University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
This early whale was well suited to life at sea. But it also lived on land. An ancestor of the right whale , Maiacetus lived 49-40 million years ago. It had flipper-like limbs and webbed feet, like modern seals. But it also had ankle bones - clues that although Maiacetus swam, its ancestors walked. As later whales evolved to become more aquatic, the telltale anklebone disappeared. Find more about...Read more
Aug 20, 2012
Credit:Trish Mace, Smithsonian Institution
This is an unidentified moray eel , collected from 650 feet off the coast of Curacao. Morays are very secretive animals that tend to stay hidden in caves and crevices. Researchers with the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP) don't yet know if this is a young eel, or a small full-grown one. By analyzing this moray's DNA and comparing it to DNA from known morays in the Caribbean, they will...Read more
Aug 16, 2012
Credit:Enric Sala / National Geographic
Enric Sala has spent much of his career looking for the ocean's "time machines" -- areas rich in biodiversity and largely unaffected by humans. In this recorded webcast , Sala, a National Geographic Ocean Fellow, takes the audience to the ocean's last wild places and tells us what scientists are trying to learn from them. This picture, taken by Sala, shows a congregation of blacktip reef sharks...Read more
Aug 15, 2012
Credit:© Chip Clark/Smithsonian Institution
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 great white shark overview , and learn more about top predators like Helicoprion in the Ocean Over Time...Read more
Aug 14, 2012
Credit:NOAA
Large numbers of grey reef sharks ( Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos ) were observed at Jarvis Island, an uninhabited Pacific island, during the 2010 Pacific RAMP expedition of the NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai . But most reefs don't have so many sharks. Read about it in the blog post " Reef Sharks Repelled by People ."Read more
Aug 13, 2012
Credit:© Robert Purdy/Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
An array of teeth from the sand tiger shark, Carcharias taurus . The Smithsonian has the largest collection of shark teeth in the world, with more than 90,000 fossil shark teeth. More about sharks and great whites can be found in our Great White Shark featured story .Read more
Aug 10, 2012
A behind the scenes look at the NMNH ocean-related collections and their importance to research and discovery.Read more
Aug 9, 2012
Credit:Mary Parrish/Smithsonian Institution
Where ocean currents were strong, ancient rudist “recliners” lay unattached on the seabed. Notice the pink tentacles, which were used to filter feed. Learn more about ocean life throughout deep time in our Ocean Over Time interactive or an image gallery .Read more
Aug 8, 2012
Credit:Filip Nuyttens, World Register of Marine Species
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. Read about the role ships play in spreading invasive species .Read more