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,...
Sweetlips, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Mar 18 2013 - 8:38am
The larger fish in this picture are called sweetlips (Plectorhinchus) because of their big, fleshy lips. There are over thirty species of sweetlips, which tend to live on coral reefs in small groups. 
Release Your Inner Blue Poet
Apr 11 2013 - 10:11am
April is National Poetry Month here in the United States. We'd like you to help us celebrate by penning a poem in the comment field below or on our Facebook page.
X-Ray Image of a Winghead Shark
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The distinctive form of a winghead shark, Eusphyra blochii, is revealed by an X-ray image. The shark's eyes are spread far apart, giving it superb binocular vision.
Creature Feature from the Census of Marine Life
Creature Feature from the Census of Marine Life
Aug 2 2010 - 1:36pm
In a decade long project, which ended in October 2010, scientists with the Census of Marine Life traveled the world cataloging the ocean’s life forms. From Australia to China to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond, these researchers documented tens of thousands of diverse creatures, which...
Calligrapher Celebrates the Ocean
May 9 2011 - 9:54am
"The ocean is essential to all" is one of the Ocean Literacy Principles, and it seems to look more arresting when written in Korean calligraphy than it does in any computer font. Artist Myoung-Won Kwon shared his talents during a visit to the National Museum of Natural History.
Diver Encounters a Floating Garbage Patch
Diver Encounters a Floating Garbage Patch
Apr 26 2011 - 1:31pm
The Smithsonian Institution's Dive Officer documents a "swirling monster" of plastic trash that she encountered while diving in Belize.
Smiling Gulf Coast Man
Mar 21 2011 - 4:26pm
A still from Stories From the Gulf: Living with the BP Oil Disaster, part of the 19th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital.
Sperm Whale, Dominica
Jun 21 2011 - 12:28pm
“For the past few years I have visited the island of Dominica to enjoy its beauty both above and below the surface. This photo was taken during a lucky encounter with a member of the ‘group of 7’ pod. A very young calf measuring about 25 feet long came over and played with us for well over 45...
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.
Great Barracuda, Witu Islands, Papua New Guinea
Oct 18 2012 - 12:22pm
“A four-foot-long barracuda is visible flashing past me, with the sky and the lights of my boat seen above.” -- Nature's Best photographer, Yeang H. Ch’ng. See more beautiful ocean photos in our slideshow of winners from the 2010 Nature's Best Ocean Views photo contest.
A Rainbow of Crocheted Corals
Oct 14 2010 - 11:30pm
Visitors to the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef temporary exhibit at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History saw both the main installation created by to the Institute For Figuring and the stunning Smithsonian Community Reef created by local crafters.
Five Questions for Halsey Burgund, Creator of Ocean Voices
Mar 8 2012 - 12:28pm
Real or imagined, everyone has a story about the ocean. In 2010 sound artist Halsey Burgund teamed up with marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols to record as many of these tales as they could. The result was Ocean Voices.
Chinook Salmon: One Species at a Time
Jul 11 2011 - 2:17pm
Can painted wooden fish on a schoolyard fence change human behavior and help clean up the ocean for the real salmon? Stream of Dreams in British Columbia thinks so, and a lot of wooden fish and some 100,000 school kids later, they have some intriguing results to show for their effort.
California Market Squid
Jul 23 2012 - 9:30am
Two California market squids, Loligo opalescens, mate in the waters off of California's Channel Islands. While spawning, the males' arms blush red as he embraces the female; a warning to other competing males to back-off.
Sound Artist Halsey Burgund
Mar 19 2012 - 9:49am
Halsey Burgund (right) performing Ocean Voices before a live audience at the Museum of Science, Boston, in July 2010. The composition includes excerpts of ocean stories from around the world. Burgund has been recording these stories on the Ocean Voices' website and mobile phone app.
On the Hunt for a Perfect Photo in the Mangroves
May 25 2012 - 11:40am
Photographer Brian Skerry hikes through a mangrove in Bimini (The Bahamas) to scout locations to photograph baby sharks. Learn more about Brian's life in the field.