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Apr 20 2012 - 10:16am
The surface of the Earth is 71% water, so we should celebrate the ocean this Earth Day. This Earth Day on Sunday, April 22nd, think of what you can do on an everyday basis to help our Planet Ocean. The ocean provides us with so much - from beach weekends with family and friends to the...
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Apr 26 2011 - 12:49pm
It blew in for two solid days: a flotilla of plastic forks, soda bottles, rubber gloves, and other refuse. I tried to pick everything up off the beach, but when I turned around, you couldn’t tell that I had cleaned at all. When we went out in the boats, we had to go slowly in order to dodge the...
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Oct 13 2010 - 10:51am
For those of you who have had the opportunity to visit a coral reef, you know that it’s an experience you are unlikely to forget.
Coral reefs are among the world’s most magnificent ecosystems. Their beauty alone makes them incalculably valuable, but beyond aesthetics, their importance to both...
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Jun 8 2010 - 1:03am
Last week, we began asking visitors to the Ocean Portal a simple question: “How do you feel about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?"
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Apr 21 2011 - 3:21pm
For more than 40 years, Earth Day has been a day to get your hands dirty—or wet! No act of green or blue is too small. Whether you choose to plant a tree or pledge to use less water, small collective acts add up. They also help raise awareness and inspire protection of the Earth and its ocean.
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Mar 12 2010 - 8:10pm
Welcome Teachers! Thank you for visiting the Ocean Portal. We hope the “OP” will be a valuable tool for you and for your students—a place where you can find teaching resources and your students can find helpful, exciting, or just-plain-weird content that sparks interest in science and the ocean....
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May 25 2012 - 12:15pm
If you were choreographing a dance about the ocean, how would you do it? Would you dart around like a lobster in a hurry? Dive like a dolphin? Float like a jellyfish?
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Aug 26 2010 - 10:28pm
Depending on whom you talk to, jellyfish are either fascinating, a nuisance, a toxic menace, or some combination of the above.
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Dec 20 2010 - 6:25pm
Salmon are one of the most widely loved varieties of seafood in the world. A ubiquitous alternative to meat and poultry, salmon wear a halo of healthfulness, as they are rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. But many wild salmon stocks are dwindling, which means that unless otherwise specified,...
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Apr 22 2013 - 10:29am
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—definitely not “dry land”—we still refer to our home by an 8th century description.
The same goes for...
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Apr 4 2011 - 9:43am
Over the past year I have been working for an organization called Coastal America helping to plan the Third National Student Summit on the Ocean and Coasts, a program that teams up high school students with educators to work on an ocean-related research project and “action plan” in their community.
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Jul 27 2011 - 3:28pm
We drove down a long dirt road on the northern side of Curaçao looking for a remote place to snorkel and sample. After a 30-minute bumpy ride, our team stepped out of the car into a breeze and the sounds of wind and crashing waves. It’s a moment I will never forget; although no one was in sight for...
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Jul 2 2010 - 6:01pm
Happy (early) Independence Day! For many of us in the United States, the 4th of July is a time to celebrate and reflect on our national heritage. In many ways, the U.S. grew up on the water and remains a maritime nation to this day.
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Dec 7 2009 - 3:08pm
If you've found your way here, you've probably already seen the homepage of the Smithsonian Institution's brand new Ocean Portal (or OP, for short). We encourage you to spend some time exploring the OP and let us know what you think.
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May 4 2011 - 5:15pm
May is here and that means National Poetry Month is officially over. As promised, we're going to highlight a few of the submissions we've received from our call for your ocean poems.
Sailors, divers, and sunbathers all penned poems. Some praised the big blue's beauty. Others bemoaned its...
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Jul 26 2010 - 3:15pm
Happy International Mangrove Action Day!
This occasion is a small but vibrant tradition that has been observed annually on July 26th for nearly a decade in countries around the globe, including the U.S., India, Ecuador, Micronesia, and many others. To celebrate, some communities organize protests...
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Apr 6 2011 - 10:53am
April is National Poetry Month here in the United States. We'd like you to help us celebrate by penning a poem in the comment field below or on our Facebook page.
Not the next Walt Whitman? Fear not.
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Nov 18 2010 - 4:49pm
Sunday, November 21 marks World Fisheries Day, an annual occasion observed in many fishing communities around the world. It’s a great opportunity—even for those of us who do not fish for a living—to pause and reflect on the importance of maintaining healthy fisheries.
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Apr 11 2013 - 10:11am
April is National Poetry Month here in the United States. We'd like you to help us celebrate by penning a poem in the comment field below or on our Facebook page.
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Jun 2 2010 - 9:05am
As the days grow long, school bells fade into distant memories, and families start taking long weekends at the beach, the Ocean Portal Team is preparing for the weeks ahead.
The way we see it, June 2010 is going to be a significant month for the ocean.
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Jul 15 2010 - 5:19pm
An 11-year-old in Texas is saddened by the oil spill and begins searching for something she can do to help.
A 13-year-old in Washington, D.C., convinces her mom to make small changes in their daily routine that make their home more ocean-friendly.
A 7-year-old spends a part of his Saturday trip to...
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Apr 22 2010 - 12:37am
Earth Day is a fitting occasion to celebrate the Big Blue.
While our planet may be called “Earth,” 71% of its surface is actually covered by water. This vast ocean makes our planet habitable—for us and all life. It produces half the oxygen we breathe. It moderates climate, absorbs carbon from the...
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Nov 22 2010 - 11:23pm
Fever. Aching muscles. Coughing. Sniffling. It’s flu season. Have you had your shot? If so, thank a horseshoe crab.
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Jan 15 2010 - 4:56pm
Happy New Year! We’ve officially hit mid-January, but there is still plenty of time to make those resolutions. If you’ve been putting it off or haven’t come up with a worthy resolution yet, why not resolve to do something to help the ocean? The ocean does so many things for us, surely we can return...
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