Ocean Life & Ecosystems

From the tiny to the titanic, from the familiar to the undiscovered, the ocean offers a stunning diversity of marine life and nearly every kind of habitat imaginable. Dive in and explore them here.

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

LATEST BLOG POSTS

Earth Day, Spawned from the Sea

Apr 22, 2013 - 10:29AMSometimes I think that our planet Earth, named for the Old English word for “dry land” (eorthe), should get a new name. Despite our knowledge that more than 70% of the planet’s surface is ocean—definitely not “dry land”—we still...

The Search for an Elusive Ribbon Worm
Mar 12, 2013 - 2:40PM
With 1,400 named species of ribbon worms inhabiting every ecosystem on earth...

How Coastal Seagrass Feeds the Deep
Feb 11, 2013 - 1:53PM
It is a well-known fact that for animals living in the deep sea, food can be...

SPOTLIGHT

Sea Creatures from the Deep: A Video by National Geographic and the Census of Marine Life

The Census of Marine Life - a ten-year effort by scientists from around the world to answer the age-old... 		Sea Creatures from the Deep A Video by National Geographic and the Census of Marine Life
MORE OCEAN LIFE & ECOSYSTEMS

AUDIO / VIDEO

  • <p>On April 27, 1986, an estimated 50,000 barrels of medium-weight crude oil drained from a ruptured storage tank at a refinery in Panama, polluting the coast and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Galeta Marine Laboratory, located at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. For 15 years before the oil spilled into Bahía las Minas, researchers had collected baseline biological and environmental data. Dr. Jeremy Jackson, Ritter Professor of Oceanography and Director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, led an in-depth study of the oil spill’s effects. Dr. Jackson discusses the study, its lessons for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the even more devastating major threats that face the ocean today.</p>

    Lessons from the Panama Oil Spill
  • <p>Forces of change, from overfishing to climate change, are affecting the ocean and humanity's relationship with it.</p>

    Forces of Change in the Ocean
  • great white shark swims through the ocean

    Great White Shark: One Species at a Time
  • <p><span style="line-height: 20px;">What is scarier: sharks or extinction?</span></p>

    Are Sharks Scary?
  • Mangroves abut blue ocean waters.

    Mangroves: One Species at a Time
  • <p>The sea grape, <em>Caulerpa racemose var. cylindracea</em>, is a type of algae that is native to Australia, but in recent years has invaded many areas of the Mediterranean Sea.</p>

    Sea Grapes: A Google Earth Tour
  • Take a dive in a submersible to find deep-sea corals with scientist Brendan Roark.

    Submersible Collects Deep-Sea Corals
  • <p>Dr. Clyde Roper recounts the tale of his encounter with a giant squid specimen that was found washed up on a beach along the Massachusetts coast and its transport back to the Smithsonian’s national collections in Washington, DC.</p>

    Clyde Roper: Squid Hunter - Architeuthis
  • <p>A video of the Palauan primitive cave eel (<em>Protanguilla palau</em>) swimming in the Pacific off the Republic of Palau. A Japanese research diver first discovered the new genus and species in a Palauan reef cave in 2009. The eel has an independent evolutionary history that dates back some <strong><a href="http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-over-time">200 million years</a></strong>, helping it earn it the 'living fossil' label. Scientists published the first full description of the animal in the August 17, 2011 online issue of the<em> <strong><a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rspb.2011.1289">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a></strong></em>.</p>

    Video of the Palauan primitive cave eel (Protanguilla palau)
  • <p>Learning about underwater vents, hot springs and the ecosystems that surround them</p>

    Submarine Volcanoes and Hydrothermal Vents
  • Discover some amazing corals in this footage from the Juan de Fuca Canyon off the Olympic coast in the Pacific Ocean and the Davidson Seamount, an underwater volcano outside the boundary of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean.

    Corals in the Juan de Fuca Canyon and the Davidson Seamount
  • <p>Dr. Clyde Roper discusses the fascinating anatomy of the giant squid in this excerpt of "Eyeball to Eyeball," an episode of Errol Morris' <em>First Person</em> television series.</p>

    Clyde Roper On the Over-Sized Anatomy of the Giant Squid
  • <p>Dr. Shivji explains how shark DNA is used as evidence to prosecute poachers.</p>

    Shark DNA Helps Catch Poachers
  • <p><a href="/ocean-videos/deep-ocean-explorers"></a><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Scientists describe their astonishing experiences and the amazing bioluminescent creatures they encounter in the deep ocean.<br /></span></p>

    Encounters with Bioluminescent Creatures

IMAGE GALLERIES

  • A painting of Reverend Moses Harvey of Newfoundland buying a dead giant squid caught by fishermen in 1874

    From Mermen to Architeuthis, Our Fascination with the Giant Squid
  • a red octopus, Stauroteuthis syrtenis, extends its tentacles in the deep sea

    Creepy Critters: Marine Life Surfaces for Halloween

  • Diversity of Deep-Sea Corals

  • Bizarre and Beautiful Coral Reef Animals

  • Bioluminescent Animals Photo Gallery
  • Photos, such as this cockatoo squid, illustrate the diversity of deep sea creatures

    Deep Ocean Diversity
  • A healthy coral reef in Indonesia

    Two Views of Coral Reefs: Thriving and Threatened
  • This swimming snail is transparent and has shiny black eyes.

    Zooplankton Biodiversity

  • Shark Ancestors
  • a wrasse cleaning a butterflyfish

    Image Gallery: The Perfect Underwater Photo

  • Studying Deep-Sea Corals
  • An oceanic whitetip shark swims near a biologist in the Bahamas.

    Image Gallery: Swimming with Sharks
  • Tridacna maxima

    Marine World Heritage Photo Gallery
  • Check out the array of tiny shrimps, fishes and nudibranchs that call this sargassum algae home.

    A World Adrift: Life in the Sargassum

PHOTOS

  • Mystery from the Deep: The Puzzling Case of the Whalefish

  • Hawaiian Monk Seal

  • Deep-Sea Corals Worldwide

  • Venomous Box Jelly from South Carolina

  • Undisturbed vs. Trawled Reef

  • Smithsonian Scientist Discovers New Fish Species

  • Jorge Velez-Juarbe

  • Caribbean Mangroves

  • What is the Largest Squid? A Squid Size Diversity Chart

  • Southern Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)

  • Humpback Whale, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, USA

  • It’s a Jelly Eat Jelly World

  • Young Lemon Shark Swims Through Mangroves

  • Longspine Seahorse