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Feb 28 2013 - 3:37pm
Jellyfish and comb jellies are gelatinous animals that drift through the ocean's water column around the world. They are both beautiful—the jellyfish with their pulsating bells and long, trailing tentacles, and the comb jellies with their paddling combs generating rainbow-like colors. Yet though...
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Nov 21 2011 - 12:00pm
What does a bioluminescent creature that lives more than two miles below the surface of the ocean and a glow stick have in common? More than you think.
In a unique spin on an art technique called "light painting," you can create your own bioluminescent organisms with glow sticks in your classroom...
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Oct 12 2011 - 11:24am
What does a bioluminescent creature that lives more than 2 miles below the surface of the ocean and a glow stick have in common? More than you think. Bioluminescence is the process by which living organisms produce their own light. Using a photographic technique called light painting, you can do...
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Aug 29 2012 - 12:17pm
This copepod (Gaussia princeps) was collected deeper than 1000 meters in the Sargasso Sea by Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) researchers in April 2006, as part of the 10-year Census of Marine Life. However, specimens of this species have been collected in all the world's oceans at many depths...
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Dec 8 2009 - 11:05pm
The Census of Marine Life - a ten-year effort by scientists from around the world to answer the age-old question, “What lives in the sea?” It was an international effort to asses the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in our ocean, and the project offically...
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Oct 12 2011 - 4:05pm
What does a bioluminescent creature that lives more than two miles below the surface of the ocean and a glow stick have in common? More than you think. Bioluminescence is the process by which living organisms produce their own light. Using a photographic technique called light painting, you can do...
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Nov 20 2012 - 11:24am
This lanternfish (Diaphus sp.), found in the Red Sea, has light-producing photophores along its ventral surface (belly), and a nasal light organ that acts like a headlight. Hear scientists tell stories about encountering bioluminescent marine animals in the deep sea.
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Jan 15 2013 - 10:51am
“Upon returning from the reef after a night dive, I swam toward a bright reflection and came eye-to-eye with this beautiful, curious squid," said Charles Viggers, a Nature's Best photographer.
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Dec 12 2012 - 10:33am
This beautiful jewel squid (Histioteuthis bonnellii) can be found swimming above the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at depths of 500-2,000 meters (1,640-6,562 feet). The “jewels” covering the body are bioluminescent photophores. But these squids can't bargain for their lives with those jewels: they have been...
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May 8 2013 - 9:26am
The long barbel on the chin of this dragonfish (Stomias boa) has a glowing tip that may attract prey. With its large mouth and sharp, curved teeth, the fish makes quick work of any prey that venture too close. Scaly dragonfish live at depths of 200-1,500 meters (656-4,921 feet) and grow up to 32...
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Feb 28 2013 - 4:20pm
Dr. Edie Widder spoke at the National Museum of Natural History as a part of the Changing Tides Lecture Series and discussed her work on underwater light: light chemically produced by animals through a process called bioluminescence. The beauty of light-producing animals intersects with light art...
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Aug 25 2011 - 2:53pm
Artist Shih Chieh Huang assembling one of his installations. Huang was a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow in 2007 and spent his time studying bioluminescent marine animals.
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Sep 9 2011 - 11:27am
Sunset? Time to glow! A biological clock triggers bioluminescence in the dinoflagellate Pyrocystis fusiformis. At dusk, cells produce the chemicals responsible for its light. Hear from marine scientists about what it's like to encounter bioluminescent animals in the deep sea.
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Dec 8 2009 - 10:05pm
The submersible Alvin carries scientists to the deep ocean, where they encounter amazing creatures and views of deep ocean life. Explore more in the Deep Ocean Exploration section.
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Oct 5 2012 - 10:01am
Glowing photophores are visible on a squid (Abralia veranyi) viewed from below at low light levels. We think of light as a way to see in the dark. But many species use it to help them hide. This adaptation is called counterillumination. Seen from below, an animal might stand out as a dark shape...
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Aug 25 2011 - 4:41pm
Artist Shih Chieh Huang creates work using plastic bags, household objects, computer cooling fans, LED lights, and other assorted materials.
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Sep 6 2011 - 3:32pm
Follow an artist from inspiration to installation in this short video. It features the work in the exhibit, "The Bright Beneath: The Luminous Art of Shih Chieh Huang," at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Huang created the installation of light-filled, animated objects after a...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A fringe of short tentacles surrounds the flattened bell of this tiny, transparent jellyfish (Halicreas minimum), which can be found at depths up to 984 feet (300 meters). But it would be hard to spot: the bell grows up to just 4 centimeters (2 inches) across! See more deep ocean diversity and...
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Dec 31 2012 - 3:58pm
The deep-sea dragonfish (Stomiidae), also called the barbeled dragonfish, uses it's fang-like teeth to grab prey in its deep-sea environment.
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Nov 1 2012 - 10:40am
This ctenophore (a stingless jellyfish-like animal) is native to the east coast of North and South America. In 1982, it was discovered in the Black Sea, where it was transported by ballast water. It subsequently spread to the Caspian Sea. In both places it multiplied and formed immense populations...
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Aug 30 2012 - 10:30am
These southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) may look like beach bums, but when they are in the water hunting, they are anything but. Satellite tracking by tagging the animals has found that, during the 10 months they spend at sea, elephant seals spend most of their time underwater, hunting...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This transparent cockatoo squid (Leachia sp.), also known as a glass squid, lives in the depths of the ocean and has many adaptations to help it survive there. It retains ammonia solutions inside its body that give it a balloon-like shape and help it float. It has large eyes and pigment-filled...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The fish at left stands out against the lighter waters above. At right the same fish—now with bioluminescent structures on its underside lit—blends in. Many deep sea creatures have evolved this adaptation (known as counterillumination), which enables them to hide in an environment with few hiding...
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Oct 27 2010 - 1:56pm
Claws, spines, spikes, tentacles, and fangs. Aliens, monsters, and ghostly apparitions glowing in the night. Marine life forms have some of the best looks for Halloween—no costumes needed. From freaky fish lurking beneath the surface to creepy crawlies of the deep, meet some of the sea’s strangest...
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