Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Ocean Portal by The Smithsonian Institution

Get Involved

FEATURES


BLOG POST Helping Kids Help the Ocean 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 thei...MORE STORIES


	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Coral Reefs Need You For those of you who have had the opportunity to visit a coral reef, you know th...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Saving Sharks and Dolphins, Near and Far Sophi Bromenshenkel is an unlikely shark-lover. She's eight years old and hails...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Teens Making a Difference in Your Community Over the past year I have been working for an organization called Coastal Americ...

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH


					NOAA's Adopt a Drifter Program Apr 20, 2012 - 12:50PMNOAA is working with students across the globe to place floating buoys throughout the ocean through their Adopt a Drifter Program. The buoys will drift with the help of ocean currents and record the sea surface temperature and...

Celebrate World Ocean Day

Jun 3, 2011 - 2:55PM

June 8th is World Ocean Day- a great time to celebrate all that the ocean...

Marine Debris: Trash Travels, But You Can Help Stop It

Sep 19, 2010 - 12:09PM

Marine debris--or trash that has washed or been dumped into our ocean and...

SPOTLIGHT


How You Can Help the Ocean Make the ConnectionThe first step in making a difference is learning about the ocean and how your actions have an impact....

Coral Reefs Need You 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...	Light Painting Tutorial 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...
Celebrate World Ocean Day Jun 3 2011 - 2:55pm June 8th is World Ocean Day- a great time to celebrate all that the ocean does for us and focus on keeping it healthy for future generations. Visit the Ocean Portal's Find Your Blue page to start learning today about how your personal actions affect the ocean and how you can make make small changes...	Sustainable Seafood Glossary of Terms Apr 6 2011 - 12:00pm Aquaculture - a form of food production involving the cultivation of commercial fish and shellfish species under controlled conditions. Aquaculture currently takes place in contained ponds and along the coast; but offshore aquaculture has begun to gain popularity in open ocean environments. Inland...
Amazing Ocean Mobile App: What Does It Do? Apr 12 2012 - 3:10pm Amazing Ocean is a brand new mobile app developed by the U.S. Department of State that features Smithsonian Ocean Portal and Sant Ocean Hall content. The app allows users to explore photos, videos, and rich ocean-themed content on their mobile devices. Amazing Ocean is free and available for...	Welcome to the Ocean Portal Blog! 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.
Design Your Own Bag Sep 15 2011 - 12:05pm Marine debris damages habitat, entangles wildlife, helps transport invasive species, and harms marine animals that mistakenly ingest the trash thinking it is food. As part of the Smithsonian's Art's and Science program, the museum hosted "DYOB: Design Your Own Bag." The program aimed to...	Aquarium of the Pacific Delegation Feb 7 2011 - 8:01pm What can students do to help the ocean? It turns out, a lot! These students from California are among dozens from the U.S. and Mexico who are developing action plans on ocean and climate-related issues in their local communities. They’re getting advice from their teachers and experts at...
Pick Five for the Environment Apr 21 2011 - 6:13pm The Environmental Protection Agency's Pick Five for the Environment website offers users personal action ideas that will lead to a healthier environment. Interested in learning how you can do more for the environment this Earth Day 2011? There are opportunities in your backyard!	Saving Sharks and Dolphins, Near and Far Jun 9 2011 - 3:45pm Sophi Bromenshenkel is an unlikely shark-lover. She's eight years old and hails from Minnesota, a state that couldn't be further from the ocean. But a family vacation to Florida changed everything. When she saw a pregnant bull shark left for dead on a beach, Sophie knew she needed to help.
Learning from a Sea of Teachers Oct 24 2009 - 6:00pm On Friday, the OP Team had another great opportunity to talk face-to-face with some of the people that the Ocean Portal will serve: teachers. More than 4,000 teachers attended Smithsonian Teachers Night, and hundreds stopped by our table in the Sant Ocean Hall to chat with us and learn more about...	Animals and the Oil Spill: What Can You Do? Jun 16 2010 - 1:40pm Lately we’ve been fielding questions from Smithsonian visitors wondering how they can help with the oil spill cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico. If there is any good news coming out of this situation, it’s that thousands of people across the U.S. care deeply and are finding ways to respond to the oil...
Resolve to Protect the Ocean 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...	Back to School, Ocean Portal Style Sep 2 2010 - 12:08am At the Ocean Portal, we love the back-to-school season. There’s excitement in the air—new classes, new teachers, new friends, and new subjects to explore. We like to think of a new school year as a fresh opportunity for students of all ages to find something they are passionate about. This year, we...
Teens Making a Difference in Your Community 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.	The JASON Project Live from the Shedd Aquarium Jul 19 2011 - 1:58pm This week people representing federal, state, and local governments, academia, non-profits, and private industry are in Chicago for the biennial Coastal Zone Conference. This meeting will give more than 1,000 attendees the opportunity to discuss ocean issues, strategies, and solutions.