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Latest From The Blog

Sean Sheldrake - May 8, 2013

A pipe on the seaflood discharges fish waste, such as bones and scraps, from processing factories that turn whole caught fish into filets that you buy in the supermarket.
As a research diver for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one of my jobs is to make sure that people and companies working in the fish industry don’t dump too much waste in the ocean...

Daniel Botkin - May 2, 2013

<p>Two nautiluses (<em>Nautilus belauensis</em>) off the coast of Palau.</p>
Editor's note: This is an excerpt from Daniel Botkin's new book The Moon in the Nautilus Shell: Discordant Harmonies Reconsidered. He will be in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 8th for a...

Emily Frost - Apr 23, 2013

Emperor Penguin Chick with Mother
Even if you aren't a hardcore birder, chances are you have some hidden love for penguins. These flightless birds have captured our hearts through countless movies, beautiful images and their...

Hannah Waters - Apr 22, 2013

If the Earth is viewed from this side, uncommonly shown, it looks much more like a blue ocean planet than a green land-filled one.
Sometimes I think that our planet Earth, named for the Old English word for “dry land” (eorthe), should get a new name. Despite our knowledge that more than 70% of the planet’s surface is ocean—...

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Today's Featured Content

West Indian Manatee
© 2004 Smithsonian Institution

West Indian Manatees, Trichechus manatus, are found in warm, shallow coastal ecosystems along the southeastern North America and northeastern South America. They graze plants in mangrove ecosystems and seagrass beds, occasionally eating small fish or invertebrates. However, they are sensitive to changes in their environment, such as cool water temperatures and harmful algal blooms, along with human threats such as speedboats, hunting, and accidental harm from fishing.