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Jan 12 2011 - 7:13pm
A “pink meanie” jellyfish (Drymonema larsoni)—a species found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean—feeds on a moon jelly (Aurelia). Dr. Keith Bayha from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Dr.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This jelly’s red color provides camouflage in the deep ocean. Red light rarely reaches those depths, and most deep-sea animals have lost the ability to see red. The long, complex tentacles of this unidentified comb jelly (Order Cydippia) have sticky cells that can snag prey, and then retract.
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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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Feb 19 2013 - 10:24am
The majestic and highly predatory red lionfish (Pterois volitans), native to the Indo-Pacific, is invading Atlantic waters. The lionfish is a popular home aquarium species, and some were most likely dumped off the Florida coast when no longer wanted. The result is a lionfish population explosion...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A giant squid engages in a struggle for survival with a sperm whale. Giant squid beaks and other undigested pieces of giant squid have been found in the stomachs of sperm whales. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.
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Apr 18 2013 - 10:35am
Like this ctenophore (Aulococtena acuminata), many animals that live in the midwater zone are red—making them almost invisible in the dim blue light that filters down from the sea surface. This small comb jelly snares prey with its two short tentacles.
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Sep 24 2010 - 6:00pm
What makes a top predator? Razor-sharp teeth? Speed? Strength? Size? Who is the most fearsome hunter? It depends on where and when you look.
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Jun 12 2012 - 10:11am
This lizardfish (Bathysaurus ferox) rests on the ocean bottom with its head slightly elevated—waiting to snatch prey with its large mouth and sharp teeth. It lives at depths of 600-3,500 meters (1,969-11,483 feet) and grows up to 64 centimeters (25.2 inches) long.
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Jan 22 2013 - 10:53am
This tiny, shrimplike creature is no more than 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long, but it’s as ferocious as a shark. Its giant eyes spot prey. Huge claws grab the prey, and a tiny mouth rips it to shreds. The prey never sees what’s coming, because Phronima’s transparent body blends into the surrounding...
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Jul 12 2012 - 11:12am
Many sperm whales stranded on beaches or caught by whalers exhibit telltale circular scars like these. Only one thing could have made them: the strong suckers that line the giant squid’s eight arms and two long feeding tentacles. Older sperm whales have so many scars that they overlap each other....
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Sep 1 2011 - 3:08pm
CREDIT: © Mary Parrish/Smithsonian Institution
1. Respect Your Elders
Sharks have a long and impressive lineage. Ancient sharks were cruising the ocean 400 million years ago--long before dinosaurs roamed on land. Relatives of the great white like the giant megatooth evolved more than...
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Jun 21 2011 - 2:52pm
"Harlequin shrimp normally live in pairs and their main diet is starfish... It takes a good eye and patience to find this beautiful shrimp, which looks like candy.” -- Nature's Best photographer, Vincenzo Apuzzo
See a slideshow of other photos from the 2011 Nature's Best Photography Ocean...
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Sep 30 2009 - 11:20am
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are master hunters, using speed, camouflage, and a variety of techniques to capture their prey. See how a different predator - the great white shark - finds its prey in this online photo gallery.
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Jul 18 2012 - 10:45am
It's hard to imagine a 2000-pound animal launching itself out of the water while hunting, but the great white shark does just that. This spectacular behavior is called breaching, and great white sharks breach in order to catch fast-moving prey like seals.
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May 11 2012 - 2:05pm
A female bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops sp.) carries a sponge, which it uses as a tool to dig up prey from the seafloor. The only dolphins known to use sponges as tools this way are the female members of a small group that live in Shark Bay, Australia. They pass the skill onto their daughters, but...
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Dec 7 2011 - 4:12pm
Scientists know the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) moves slowly in the Arctic's cold water. They also know that parasites attack the shark's eyes. But much about this animal remains a mystery. Marine biologist Greg Skomal says that's because the Greenland shark spends most of the year...
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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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Aug 10 2010 - 5:06pm
No iguana wants to be cooked alive on a hot rock and then served up as dinner for a Galapagos hawk. But it turns out the marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) have a strategy that warns them of the presence of hawks they can’t see. They learned to tune in to a kind of police scanner…the alarm...
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Mar 20 2013 - 9:27am
A great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) emerges from the water's surface, gaping at the photographer. Gaping is a way sharks communicate with each other, and maybe even try and communicate with humans.
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Mar 12 2010 - 10:55am
In this episode of the Podcast of Life, students from Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in Massachusetts and La Salle Academy in Rhode Island question shark researcher Greg Skomal about a charismatic predator at the top of the ocean food chain: the Great White Shark. Learn some surprising...
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Oct 11 2012 - 9:46am
An adult giant squid struggles for survival in an encounter with a sperm whale - its only known predator. The whale will probably overpower and eat the squid. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Like octopods and cuttlefishes, giant squid have eight arms. But they use their two much longer feeding tentacles to seize prey. The tentacles have powerful suckers at the ends. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid featured story.
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Dec 17 2009 - 6:39pm
Great white sharks are athletic hunters, leaping completely out of the water as they attack prey from below. They have six highly refined senses: smell, hearing, touch, taste, sight, and electromagnetism. These senses, along with a sleek, torpedo-shaped body, make them highly skilled hunters.
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Feb 17 2010 - 7:13pm
Great White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are marvels of evolution, with highly-evolved senses keeping them among the ocean’s top predators. More about the great white shark can be found in our Great White Shark featured story.
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