Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Ocean Portal by The Smithsonian Institution

Habitat Destruction

FEATURES


VIDEO Efforts to Protect the Critically Endangered Monk Seal Monk seals -- the only completely tropical species of seal in the world -- are in trouble. Centuries of human exploitation and habitat destruction have caused the remaining populations of Me...MORE VIDEO


	VIDEO MORE VIDEOS The Last Wild Places In the Ocean Webcast The ocean is not as natural as it once was. Where there used to be large predato...
	PHOTO MORE PHOTOS Mangrove Island Clear-Cut for Tourism This mangrove island in the Pelican Cays, Belize, was clear-cut and filled with...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES The Great Barrier Reef – Going, Going, Gone??? Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (or the GBR as it is known to reef aficionados) s...

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH


					Blue Carbon Apr 19, 2013 - 10:05AMWhat is blue carbon? It's a term used to describe the carbon that is captured from the atmosphere by ocean ecosystems, mainly coastal mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes. These coastal areas can hold up to five times more...

Coral for Sale

Oct 19, 2012 - 11:07AM

Red coral necklaces fill a store display window. The United States annually...

Where did Half of the Great Barrier Reef's Coral Go?

Oct 3, 2012 - 1:57PM

In the past 30 years, the Great Barrier Reef -- Australia's iconic natural...

SPOTLIGHT


Two Views of Coral Reefs: Thriving and Threatened Coral reefs are beautiful, vibrant ecosystems that house roughly one quarter of all marine species and provide billions of...

Field Notes from the East African Coast Apr 17 2013 - 2:09pm We began this journey three months ago, a team of scientists and filmmakers traveling the East African coastline by boat to document and research the status of coral reefs from South Africa to Kenya. We have observed a lot of changes in the coral reef communities as we travel north. Some of these...	The Great Barrier Reef – Going, Going, Gone??? Oct 2 2012 - 2:28pm Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (or the GBR as it is known to reef aficionados) stretches for more than 2,300 kilometers (over 1,429 miles) and can be seen from outer space. This largest barrier reef in the world is both a national icon and a global treasure that was recognized as a World Heritage...
Mangroves: One Species at a Time Jul 14 2010 - 10:01pm Follow researchers Candy Feller and Dennis Whigham from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center as they scramble, climb, crawl, and creep through the tangled roots of a mangrove forest. In this episode of the Podcast of Life, learn what’s threatening these unique ecosystems where the...	Habitat for Leatherback Turtles Jan 31 2012 - 10:52am Endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtles now have nearly 42,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean to call their own. Thanks to a decision in January 2012 by the National Marine Fisheries Service, these magnificent reptiles will now be safeguarded off the U.S. West Coast.
Seagrass and Seagrass Beds Feb 27 2013 - 9:38pm Around 100 million years ago, grass from land adapted to live and reproduce while submerged in seawater—the modern-day seagrasses. This sea invasion by land plants happened four separate times, resulting in four unrelated families of 50-60 total seagrass species, which can be found on the coast of...	A Mediterranean Monk Seal Pup Jul 12 2011 - 1:00pm Watch a recorded webcast about the latest efforts in Greece to study and save the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal.
Coral at the Great Barrier Reef Oct 2 2012 - 3:04pm This colorful coral lives in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. On the whole, this coral reef is the largest single structure built by living organisms and can be seen from space! Although more than one-third of the reef is protected from fishing and other human impacts, it is still 50% smaller than...	Blue Carbon Apr 19 2013 - 10:05am What is blue carbon? It's a term used to describe the carbon that is captured from the atmosphere by ocean ecosystems, mainly coastal mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes. These coastal areas can hold up to five times more carbon than tropical forests, which means they play an important role...
Mangrove Survival: Against the Odds Feb 17 2011 - 12:18pm Mangroves thrive in hot, muddy, salty conditions that would kill most plants. But even these tough trees are threatened by human development. This lone mangrove shoot in South Bimini, Bahamas stands strong in the path of a backhoe dredging a lagoon. Mangroves, which provide habitat to diverse...	Undisturbed vs. Trawled Reef Jun 7 2011 - 11:36am The Oculina deep-sea coral reef at top has not been disturbed by humans. Trawling has devastated the one at bottom. Only about 10 percent of Oculina habitat remains intact. Learn more about vulnerable deep-sea corals in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."
Backbone of Biodiversity at Risk Oct 28 2010 - 7:01pm The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, maintains the Red List of Threatened Species, an inventory of the global conservation status of plants and animals. In a 2010 study, researchers concluded that one-fifth of the world's vertebrates (animals with backbones) are...	Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves Nov 4 2010 - 11:52am The Brazilian Atlantic Islands site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001. The rich waters of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Rocas Atoll are extremely important for the breeding and feeding of tuna, shark, turtle, and marine mammals. The site is home to the largest concentration...
Bleached Corals, Pacific Ocean Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am Compare the healthy coral on the left with the bleached coral on the right. Increased water temperatures caused the bleached coral to lose the microscopic algae that give the coral color and provide it with food. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.	Two Views of Coral Reefs: Thriving and Threatened Dec 15 2009 - 12:19pm Coral reefs are beautiful, vibrant ecosystems that house roughly one quarter of all marine species and provide billions of dollars in products and services to humans each year. But they are also vulnerable to human activities – both direct disturbances and small, indirect effects that build up over...
Aerial photo of Farallones Dec 17 2009 - 7:20pm In California, the Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary provides protection to Great White Sharks and other species. More about the great white shark can be found in our Great White Shark featured story.	Gulf Oil Spill Jul 24 2012 - 3:07pm The Gulf oil spill is recognized as the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Within days of the April 20, 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people, remote underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor...