Today's Catch
Jul 16, 2012
Credit:Joan Lederman
Massachusetts ceramics artist Joan Lederman glazes her work —including this bowl—with deep sea sediments. Some contain tiny single-celled organisms called foraminifera. Lederman has noticed that sediments with foraminifera often make branching patterns—like the ones you see on this bowl. “I hear and feel forams roll off the sediment-filled brush,” says Lederman. More about deep ocean exploration...Read more
Jul 13, 2012
Credit:Jeffrey de Guzman/Nature’s Best Photography
The veined octopus ( Amphioctopus marginatus ), also known as the coconut octopus, has a skill beyond other cephalopods: it hides under animal and coconut shell, which it drags along the seafloor for protection. This is one of the few examples—if not the only example—of tool use in invertebrates. Here, the octopus sits inside a vacant bivalve shell. “This octopus displays tool-using behavior as...Read more
Jul 12, 2012
Credit:In Smithsonian Report 1916
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. Learn more about the over-sized anatomy of the giant squid in this video with Smithsonian scientist...Read more
Jul 9, 2012
Credit:Flickr user Jenny Huang (JennyHuang)/EOL
Two bright orange anemonefish ( Amphiprion ocellaris ) poke their heads between anemone tentacles. Anemonefish are able to swim amongst the stinging tentacles without getting stung -- but no one knows exactly sure how. One dominant theory explains that they have a protective slime coating their bodies. However, anemonefish are not born with this protective slime and scientists don't know how they...Read more
Jul 5, 2012
Credit:Seabird McKeon
When they get larger, Portunus sayi are formidable predators- quick to consume any smaller animal that comes within reach. Fish, other crustaceans, and even smaller members of their own species are not safe from this hungry sargassum swimming crab. Off the coast of Belize, Smithsonian Marine Science Network postdoctoral fellow, Seabird McKeon, studies floating seaweeds and the minuscule animals...Read more
Jul 3, 2012
Credit:Projeto Tamar Brazil/Marine Photobank
An albatross drowned after being accidentally caught on a longline near Brazil. Marine birds are among the species that can become bycatch . Watch a video about how scientists and fishermen are trying methods to reduce bycatch .Read more
Jun 28, 2012
Credit:Phillip Colla/Nature’s Best Photography
“As we motored around Paulet Island in a Zodiac boat, these two curious penguins waddled across an iceberg to get a closer look at us.” -- Nature's Best photographer, Phillip Colla . See more beautiful ocean photos in our slideshow of winners from the 2010 Nature's Best Ocean Views photo contest. These Adélie penguins live in Antarctica and rely on tiny crustaceans, called krill, as their main...Read more
Jun 22, 2012
Credit:© Brian Skerry, www.brianskerry.com
A blue cod and sea pens , a unique type of cnidarian , speckle the seafloor in New Zealand's Fiordland region.You can see more beautiful underwater photos from Brian Skerry in his image gallery .Read more
Jun 20, 2012
Credit:Image Courtesy Edie Widder
Under white light, this shortnose greeneye fish ( Chlorophthalmus agassizi ) looks unimpressive. But, in dim blue light—the type usually seen at depth—it shows its true fluorescent colors. NOAA scientists collected this specimen during a 2004 expedition for optical studies . The scientists believe the green flouresence of the fish’s eye lenses help it detect prey better in dimly lit water...Read more
Jun 18, 2012
Credit:K. Raskoff, Monterey Peninsula College, Arctic Exploration 2002, NOAA
Chrysaora melanaster , one of the largest jellyfish commonly found in the Arctic, swims underneath the Arctic ice . Its tentacles can stretch to more than 3 meters long and pack a mean sting for humans.Read more
