Media Gallery: Photos Arctic Ocean, Arctic explorers, Arctic animals, Arctic ice, under the ice, Ice diving, Ice divers

  • A photo of the puffer fish Lagocephalus cf. suezensis

    A Library of Puffer Fish DNA
    May 10 2011 - 5:15pm
    Some fish you can fry up in the pan, no questions asked. Others require a bit of research. Case in point: the puffer fish. Commonly known as fugu, some species contain toxins more deadly than cyanide...
  • A photo of a Mediterranean monk seal pup taken from inside a cave.

    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.
  • A rendering of an underwater marine scene from ~359 - 318 million years ago, featuring fish, crinoids, brachiopods and other organisms.

    A Mississippian Marine Habitat (359 - 318 Million Years Ago)
    Sep 20 2011 - 4:36pm
    Crinoids (echinoderms related to sea stars and sea urchins) dominate the Paleozoic shallow water habitat in this illustration. They evolved a variety of stalk heights, which enabled them to capture...
  • Bycatch in a Shrimp Trawl Net

    A Net Full of Bycatch
    Nov 18 2010 - 6:34pm
    Bycatch, or accidentally caught species, can make up a very high percentage of the haul in shrimp trawl nets. However, some of these “trash” species are now being used, rather than discarded, and new...
  • <p>This pair of sea butterflies (<em>Limacina helicina</em>) flutter not far from the ocean's surface in the Arctic.</p>

    A Pair of Sea Butterflies
    Feb 15 2013 - 10:56am
    This pair of sea butterflies (Limacina helicina) flutter not far from the ocean's surface in the Arctic. Sea butterflies are a type of sea snail, but instead of dragging themselves around the...
  • This map shows the possible pathway of pumice transport to the shores of Belize (the green line)

    A Possible Pathway for the Pumice
    Aug 27 2012 - 2:23pm
    Orange shaded areas are major drainage basins of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras that contribute sediment to the Caribbean. Wind and current patterns are represented by red and black arrows,...
  • <p>Instead of females, male seahorses carry the developing seahorse embryos in a kangaroo-like pouch. During mating season, the female deposits her eggs into the pouch, and the male fertilizes them. After about two weeks of development, out pop the seahorse fry, ready to swim off and explore the ocean world. Here is a very pregnant short-snouted seahorse (<em>Hippocampus breviceps</em>) in Australia.</p>

    A Pregnant Seahorse
    Apr 9 2013 - 9:46am
    Instead of females, male seahorses carry the developing seahorse embryos in a kangaroo-like pouch. During mating season, the female deposits her eggs into the pouch, and the male fertilizes them....
  • Smithsonian Community Reef from the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit

    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...
  • <p>A <em>Hubrechtia</em> ribbon worm, found after a long day of searching in mud flats in Fort Pierce, Florida.</p>

    A Ribbon Worm From the Mud Flats
    Mar 14 2013 - 9:46am
    The over 1,000 species of ribbon worms (Nemertea) are mostly found in marine environments (like the Hubrechtia found in a mud flat, in the photo). These worms have both a mouth and an anus (unlike...
  • Phoenix swimming with her calf in February 2007 in the Southeast calving grounds off the coasts of Georgia and Florida.

    A Right Whale Named Phoenix
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    Phoenix swimming with her calf in February 2007 in the Southeast calving grounds off the coasts of Georgia and Florida. Researchers track these highly endangered whales (there are only about 450 of...
  • <p>Hawaiian squirrelfish (<em>Sargocentron xantherythrum</em>) are almost entirely nocturnal, so they need big eyes to absorb as much moonlight and starlight as they can in the dark.</p>

    A School of Hawaiian Squirrelfish
    Apr 10 2013 - 9:03am
    Check out the eyes on these Hawaiian squirrelfish (Sargocentron xantherythrum)! Because squirrelfish are almost entirely nocturnal, they need big eyes to absorb as much moonlight and starlight as...
  • Glowing Shortnose Greeneye Fish

    A Shortnose Greeneye Fish Aglow
    Jun 20 2012 - 2:47pm
    Under white light, this shortnose greeneye fish (Chlorophthalmus agassizi) looks unimpressive. But, in dim blue light—the type usually seen at depth—it shows its true fluorescent colors. NOAA...