Media Gallery: Photos

  • <p>This nudibranch (sea slug) was thought to be extinct in the region since 1984 due to pollution. But it has been spotted off the Southern California coast several times since 2003.</p>

    The Comeback Sea Slug
    Apr 5 2013 - 9:12am
    This nudibranch, or shell-less marine snail, is making a comeback to a location it hasn't been to in years along the California coast. First discovered off the coast of Southern California in 1902,...
  • Purple, pink and green corals growing underwater on a metal fence-like substrate.

    The Coral Gardener
    Mar 22 2011 - 10:18am
    A still from The Coral Gardener, part of the 19th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. The film is about Austin Bowden-Kerby, a man who gardens corals to help rebuild...
  • Photo of a Hawaiian monk seal on the beach, with the ocean in the background.

    The Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal
    Feb 24 2012 - 1:00am
    Scientists from the U.S. and Greece are working from opposite sides of the ocean to save the Hawaiian (pictured here) and Mediterranean monk seals. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has...
  • Three dancers dependent on one another, as in the food web.

    The Food Web, Through Dance
    May 25 2012 - 12:55pm
    Three dancers demonstrate the food web in the production Ocean, which blends dance with scientist interviews, facts, and ocean photography. The choreographer, Fran Spector Atkins, hopes dance will...
  • The currents of the North Pacific gyre collect trash—mostly bits of microscopic plastic—into what are known as "garbage patches."

    The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    May 6 2013 - 8:10am
    The “garbage patches,” as referred to in the media, are areas of marine debris concentration in the North Pacific Ocean, circulated by the North Pacific gyre. The gyre spreads across the Pacific...
  • A team of scientists explore the Arctic ocean.

    The Hidden Ocean
    Jan 4 2011 - 4:59pm
    Hidden beneath Arctic ice is a world few have ever seen. Take the icy plunge with a team of ice-loving scientists.
  • Waves play an important role in the way coastal ecosystems function, and also provide tourism dollars because of their draw for surfers.

    The Importance of a Wave
    Apr 11 2013 - 9:32am
    Large waves are a draw for surfers, scientists and spectators alike to locations around the world. Changes to the coast and ocean floor as well as sediment flow can change the nature of a wave as it...
  • On Moorea, an island in French Polynesia, researchers are striving to complete a biocode—a DNA catalog of every life form big enough to pick up with tweezers.

    The Island of Moorea
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    On Moorea, an island in French Polynesia, researchers are striving to complete a biocode—a DNA catalog of every life form big enough to pick up with tweezers.
  • A male mudflat fiddler crab (Uca rapax) waves its huge claw to impress females and threaten competitors.

    The Mudflat Fiddler Crab
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    A male mudflat fiddler crab (Uca rapax) waves its huge claw to impress females and threaten male competitors. More about the animals and plants living in mangrove ecosystems can be found in the...
  • The Ocean of Life by Callum Roberts, US cover

    The Ocean of Life by Callum Roberts
    Jul 19 2012 - 12:26pm
  • Christine, the Ocean Portal Community Manager wants to hear from you. Please leave a comment, send us an email, or use the feedback module to let her know what you think of the site.

    The OP Community Manager
    Dec 7 2009 - 3:07pm
    Christine, the Ocean Portal Community Manager wants to hear from you. Please leave a comment, send us an email, or use the feedback module to let her know what you think of the site.
  • The People's Reef--Part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

    The People's Reef
    Oct 14 2010 - 4:58pm
    The People's Reef, a part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, from above. The HCCR was created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring and is on exhibit at Smithsonian's...