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Sep 12 2011 - 12:24pm
For over a decade, Smithsonian Arctic Archaeologists have been investigating an early European whaling site at Hare Harbor in Quebec, Canada. The site and the artifacts that have been recovered has revealed important information about the relationships between Inuit peoples of Northern Canada and...
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Sep 6 2012 - 5:03pm
During the decade of the Census of Marine Life, more than 6,000 potential new ocean species were discovered by 2,700 participating scientists from more than 80 countries. Census scientists searched the global ocean to learn more about species as large as the blue whale and as small as a zooplankter...
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Jan 6 2011 - 4:06pm
Expedition data went to the Arctic Ocean Diversity database of the Census of Marine Life to establish a baseline that will help to document change in the poorly known Arctic Ocean.
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Dec 10 2012 - 10:20am
In the icy waters of the Arctic, a deep-water larvacean (aka “sea tadpole” because it looks like a tadpole) drifts through the water in its 'house.' This house is made of protein and creates almost a shell around the larvacean and helps to filter particles out of the water for the larvacean to eat...
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Jun 28 2011 - 2:25pm
The Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media bring us another installment of the podcast, One Species at a Time. In this podcast, host Ari Daniel Shapiro relates two close calls with polar bears. Listen as Heather Cray recalls how, dumped by a storm on a small Arctic island,...
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Jan 6 2011 - 10:18am
The world beneath the Arctic ice is magical, but cold. Divers have to tolerate temperatures of 30 degrees Fahrenheit (about -2° Celsius.) To stay warm they wear thermal undergarments and use special gear called dry suits. Sunlight filters through the ice layer bathing the underwater habitats...
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Sep 9 2011 - 3:20pm
A 2011 excavation led by the Arctic Studies Center uncovered this fragment of decorated European stoneware called a bellarmine jug. Uncovering this fragment, that was likely manufactured in the 15th and 16th centuries, reveals information about European trade and influence in the Hare Harbor...
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Jun 18 2012 - 9:37am
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.
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Jan 14 2011 - 2:57pm
The National Ice Center’s work is focused on ensuring safe and efficient navigation, but it also supports scientific research and provides crucial information used by scientists to better monitor and understand climate change. Researchers working in the Arctic and Antarctic depend on the support of...
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Apr 3 2013 - 9:04am
Harp seals are protected in the United States by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Although they are not considered endangered, as sea ice melting earlier and earlier each year, available harp seal breeding grounds are being lost in the North Atlantic and Arctic.
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Jul 27 2012 - 11:00am
Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are a type of toothed whale, best known for their long unicorn-like tusk. The tusk is normally found on male narwhals and is actually a tooth.
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Jan 7 2011 - 12:26pm
See an animation showing over time, the receding of summer sea ice in the Arctic.
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Jan 6 2011 - 3:36pm
Several species of amphipod like this one, Gammarus wilkitzkii, live permanently within Arctic sea ice. These animals are endemic, meaning they only live here. They acclimate to a wide range of salt levels in the water using a physiological response called osmoregulation.
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Dec 23 2010 - 2:01pm
“In late November, land-locked polar bears gather along the Hudson Bay to await the formation of Arctic ice so they can return to their seal-hunting grounds for the winter.” -- Nature's Best photographer, Alan Zipp.
See more beautiful ocean photos in our slideshow of winners from the 2010 Nature's...
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Jan 6 2011 - 2:14pm
Lanceola clausi, the bull-dog amphipod, another rare deep-water species captured below 1000 meters (3281 feet) with the multinet. View the “Under Arctic Ice” photo essay to learn more.
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Sep 9 2011 - 3:33pm
The Arctic Studies Center's excavation site map of Hare Harbor maps some of the community's excavated structures that archeologists have unearthed. An Inuit house, blacksmith shop, and cookhouse are among some of the excavated buildings on site.
Learn more about what has been uncovered at Hare...
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Mar 26 2010 - 1:03pm
Drilling near the North Pole, Dr. Jan Backman reveals a brief moment in time when the Arctic was subtropical. More about world climate change can be found in our Climate Change featured story.
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Jan 6 2011 - 3:24pm
The bowhead whale has a massive, bow-shaped skull to break through thick Arctic ice, and more blubber than any other whale.
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Sep 20 2011 - 12:33pm
At the ends of the Earth, life thrives despite extreme conditions. In the Arctic and Southern Oceans, organisms have evolved adaptations to cope with year-round cold and six months of darkness. But the tough critters living in these harsh climates belie the delicate balance that holds the ecosystem...
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Sep 8 2011 - 4:04pm
At a recent staff meeting a Smithsonian colleague mentioned that one of his pastimes this summer has been keeping tabs on the Arctic sea ice. The question that's on many Arctic-watchers' minds is whether or not the 2011 sea ice coverage will reach a new record low.
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Jan 6 2011 - 10:09am
Scientists use a multinet to collect Arctic zooplankton samples from different depth layers in the water column.
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Jan 26 2012 - 11:45am
Geologist Charles Paull (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) investigates geologic features similar to pingos (Earth covered ice mounds found in the Arctic) on the Arctic Ocean floor where methane—a powerful greenhouse gas—bubbles through sediments and forms hundreds of low hills. Read an...
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Jan 6 2011 - 2:23pm
Benthic scientists are interested in the creatures that live on and in the seafloor and inside the sediments. Here they haul up mud from the Arctic seafloor to examine for animals.
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Jan 6 2011 - 4:34pm
Scientists are excited when they discover an animal where they had never seen it before. This eelpout fish, Lycodes adolfi, was seen on the Pacific side of the Arctic in 2009. Previously, scientists had thought it was only found on the Atlantic side.
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