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Ocean Portal by The Smithsonian Institution

Media Gallery: Audio

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: One Species at a Time

What is it like to be eyeball to eyeball with a fish the size of a Volkswagen? In this episode of the Podcast of Life, learn how a tuna fisherman and a biologist are teaming up to tag bluefin tuna, and how those tags are revealing surprises that might help save tuna from their own popularity in sushi restaurants.

TAGS: Bluefin tuna, Encyclopedia of Life, Fisheries, Fishes, Sustainable seafood, Tagging

Jul 8 2010 - 6:57pm
Bowhead Whale: One Species at a Time

In the episode of One Species at a Time, writer Karen Romano Young takes an icebreaker to Barrow, Alaska, to join in the festival of Naluqatak and learn about the intimate relationship between the Inupiat Eskimos and the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). Listen as she tells Ari Daniel Shapiro how the whole community turns out for whale hunt, how the bowhead nourishes the Inupiat, both physically and spiritually—and how the hunt is proving to be an unexpected gift to scientists.

TAGS: Cetaceans, Encyclopedia of Life, Marine mammals, Native people, Whales

Oct 25 2010 - 6:18pm
Box Jellies: One Species at a Time

In this episode of the Podcast of Life, learn how three fiery, painful stings during an early morning swim in Hawaii changed the life of researcher Angel Yanagihara. Once the young biochemist had recovered from her box jelly encounter, Carybdea alata had her full attention. Now she works to unlock the secrets of venom of these beautiful, and sometimes dangerous, angels of the sea.

TAGS: Encyclopedia of Life, Invertebrates, Jellyfish, Open ocean

Apr 2 2010 - 12:16pm
Chinook Salmon: One Species at a Time

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.

TAGS: Fishes, Human impacts, Pacific Northwest

Jul 11 2011 - 2:17pm
Coral Reefs: One Species at a Time

Coral reefs are bustling cities of marine life, until rising ocean temperatures turn them into ghost towns. Can reefs spring back from devastating bleaching events? In this episode of the Podcast of Life, Ari Daniel Shapiro and researcher Dr. Randi Rotjan of the New England Aquarium, journey to the remote Phoenix Islands to find out.

TAGS: Biodiversity, Coral bleaching, Coral reefs, Encyclopedia of Life, Pacific islands

May 11 2010 - 3:27pm
Dinoflagellates: One Species at a Time

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 which dinoflagellate has a special glow, and which one is responsible for killing more people every year than sharks.

TAGS: Microorganisms

Jun 8 2010 - 8:33pm
Ediacaran Fossils: One Species at a Time

When the cod fishery collapsed in Newfoundland in the early 1990s, the hopes of the local fish harvesters collapsed with it. Hundreds of Newfoundlanders moved away and businesses that depended on the cod fishery closed. But retired schoolteacher Kit Ward of Portugal Cove South wasn’t content to watch her community vanish. She and some friends found a solution that was right under their feet, in the reddish rocks of Mistaken Point.

TAGS: Encyclopedia of Life, Fisheries, Fishes, Fossils, Geologic time

Oct 27 2011 - 3:37pm
Giant Squid: One Species at a Time

How do you get two dead Giant Squid the size of a school bus from a fishing boat in Spain to Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.? Call in the U.S. Navy! In this episode of the One Species at a Time, find out how Operation Calamari unfolded and how the museum managed to put their new giant squid on display.

TAGS: Cephalopods, Encyclopedia of Life, Giant squids, Sant Ocean Hall, Smithsonian collections, Smithsonian exhibits, Squids

Jun 2 2010 - 12:31pm
Great White Shark: One Species at a Time

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 facts and the answers to questions like what preys on the Great White and do they mate for life?

TAGS: Food web, Great white sharks, Predation, Sharks

Mar 12 2010 - 10:55am
Greenland Shark: One Species at a Time

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 living under 6 feet of Arctic ice. Skomal works for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

TAGS: Adaptations, Arctic, Climate change, Encyclopedia of Life, Parasitism, Predation, Sharks

Dec 7 2011 - 4:12pm