Books, Film & The Arts

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LATEST TODAY'S CATCH

Adélie Penguins Face Off

Apr 15, 2013 - 10:25AMThese cute Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) are actually having a bit of a spat. In the spring (October for them), the penguins form breeding colonies on rocky coasts with thousands of birds in a group. Krill, a tiny...

Harp Seal, Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada
Apr 3, 2013 - 9:04AM
Harp seals are protected in the United States by the Marine Mammal...

Grey Reef Shark, West New Britain, Father Reefs, Papua New Guinea
Mar 28, 2013 - 9:45AM
Gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are known for being active at...

SPOTLIGHT

Five Questions for Callum Roberts, Author and Professor

Callum Roberts is a professor of marine conservation at the University of York in England and an author. His first book,...
The Plastiki Sailboat
Mar 22 2011 - 9:27am
A still from, Voyage of the Plastiki, part of the 19th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital.
Photographing the Underwater Aquarius Habitat
May 25 2012 - 1:26pm
Trying to get a good angle for a photo while underwater can be tough when you are working among currents and other distractions, like animal visitors. In this photo, Brian Skerry sits atop a 20 foot high underwater tripod to photograph the Aquarius Habitat off Key Largo, Florida. Skerry lived...
Green Turtle, Armeñime, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Jun 21 2011 - 12:22pm
“As an underwater nature photographer, I struggled for a new way to bring back visions of fish and fauna. Soon I discovered that taking water out of the picture, rendering it invisible while it is still evident that it surrounds the subject, is a powerful vehicle for driving the viewer's full...
Ocean Reading
May 26 2011 - 11:07am
Fiction or non-fiction, short or epic...what are your favorite books about the ocean?
2011 Student Summit on the Ocean Coasts Webcast Part 1
2011 Student Summit on the Ocean & Coasts Webcast, Part 1
Mar 28 2011 - 2:47pm
Recorded Feb. 15, 2011, this video from the Third Student Summit on the Ocean and Coasts includes a tribal song written and sung by Suquamish Tribal member Bearon Old Coyote; a welcome to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History by Director Dr. Cristian Samper; a lecture about the "...
The Perfect Underwater Photo
Dec 19 2011 - 11:57am
There is of course, no such thing as the perfect photograph, as there is no perfect song, movie, or painting. Photography by its very nature is subjective and what appeals to one viewer may not interest another. There are photographic elements however, that have been proven to make images better,...
Green Sea Turtle in the Canary Islands, Spain
Jun 6 2012 - 1:29pm
I have been to this location many times, but no other photo has come out like this one composed with the sun behind a turtle’s head.” -- Nature's Best photographer, Pedro Carrillo. See more beautiful ocean photos in our slideshow of winners from the 2010 Nature's Best Ocean Views photo contest.
Virtual Book Reading with Daniel Botkin
May 2 2013 - 10:48am
Editor's note: This is an excerpt from Daniel Botkin's new book The Moon in the Nautilus Shell: Discordant Harmonies Reconsidered. He will be in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 8th for a lecture and book signing through the Smithsonian Associates. 
Artist Shih Chieh Huang
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.
Protected Pigfish and Mao-Mao School
Mar 13 2013 - 7:21am
Red Pigfish (Bodianus unimaculatus) and Blue Mao-Mao (Scorpis violacea) school at the edge of a cavern in New Zealand's Poor Knights Islands. Read photographer Brian Skerry's story behind this photo on the Ocean Portal blog.
Swimming With Sharks
Oct 13 2011 - 1:15pm
Lying in water only a foot deep, I watched the shark meander lazily through the mangrove, already exuding the confidence inherent of the supreme creature within its domain. It was hot here in Bimini, nearly 100-degrees and mosquitoes were thick and relentless, swarming on to any bare skin. Yet...
Veined Octopus at Anilao Batangas Pier, Philippines
Jul 13 2012 - 9:11am
The veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus), also known as the coconut octopus, has a skill beyond other cephalopods: it hides under animal and coconut shell, which it drags along the seafloor for protection. This is one of the few examples -- if not the only example -- of tool use in...
dinoflagellates
Dinoflagellates: One Species at a Time
Jun 8 2010 - 8:33pm
Ari Daniel Shapiro is joined for this episode of The Podcast of Life by science contributor Josh Kurz, who tells the story of dinoflagellates through "music from the bottom of the food chain." There are "billions of these microscopic creatures in every bucket of the salty sea," Kurz reveals. Learn...
One fish, two fish, crawfish, bluefish
May 17 2011 - 11:35am
Visit the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum's sustainable seafood website for more seafood information, including recipes from One fish, two fish, crawfish, bluefish.
Patience is a Virtue
Jun 18 2012 - 1:37pm
As an underwater photographer, time in the field is the most valuable thing I can be given. With time, I can usually overcome challenges and the problems that occur. Time also allows me to learn firsthand about the place in which I am working, what happens at different times of day and how animals...
Ladies Silurian Atoll from the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef
Oct 14 2010 - 5:24pm
A piece of the Institute For Figuring’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef known as the Ladies Silurian Atoll. The HCCR exhibit was on display in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, from October 16, 2010 through April 24, 2011.