About the Ocean Portal

The Ocean is important to all life, including yours. Join us.

Welcome to the Ocean Portal – a unique, interactive online experience that inspires awareness, understanding, and stewardship of the world’s Ocean, developed by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History and more than 20 collaborating organizations.

You are among the first wave of visitors to the Portal, an experience which we hope will empower you to shape and share your personal Ocean experiences, knowledge, and perspectives.

The input you provide through feedback modules and comment boxes will help us to shape future Ocean Portal content and functionality. Like the Ocean, which is made of millions of marine species, your comments, questions, and clicks will help to bring the Portal closer to the vastness and variety of the Ocean itself.

Where to start?

• Read our blog
• Sign up for email updates
• Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter
• Share your feedback in our comment boxes
• Take our survey

Why now?

The Ocean Portal is the third pillar of the Smithsonian Institution’s Ocean Initiative and builds upon the momentum of the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Ocean Hall and appointment of the Sant Marine Science Chair. These pillars were developed to hold up the Smithsonian’s mission to increase the public’s Ocean understanding and stewardship.

Whether you live near the Ocean or live far away, you can take positive actions to preserve and protect our world’s Ocean. Just keep an eye out for the life-ring image throughout the Portal, which will lead you to more information on how you can help.

Thanks for diving in. We look forward to seeing where you navigate!