Today's Catch

  • Jun 8, 2011

    It was a typical summer day in the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History. Visitors were examining the giant squid and marveling at the life-size replica of Phoenix, the right whale. The only thing odd was the high number of blue-clad people milling about. 

    And then surfing-music filled the gallery. 

    CREDIT:

    Smithsonian Institution

  • Jun 3, 2011

    June 8th is World Ocean Day- a great time to celebrate all that the ocean does for us and focus on keeping it healthy for future generations. Visit the Ocean Portal's Find Your Blue page to start learning today about how your personal actions affect the ocean and how you can make make small changes to your daily routine to help protect it.

    CREDIT:

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  • May 23, 2011
    Sea star in a tide pool

    Adaptation is the key word if you are looking to survive in a tide pool, a space that some scientists describe as the most competitive real estate in the ocean.

    Tide pools are exposed to the water's ebb and flow, and plants and animals must adapt to survive wave turbulence, desiccation stress, predation, and competition for space and food. Not enough real estate on the rocks? Barnacles, sponges, bryozoan, and other animals live on top of whatever or whomever they can latch onto.

    CREDIT:

    Flickr user ianredan

  • May 18, 2011
    A whale shark swimming in the water.

    The sea's largest fish has been a mystery until recent decades. Thanks to electronic tags, researchers are uncovering some of the secrets of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828). One tagged animal, dubbed "Rio Lady," swam some 5,000 miles during a span of 150 days. Another dove to a depth of 6,324 feet in the Gulf of Mexico. These sharks are attracting scientists and tourists alike to places like the Yukatan Peninsula.

    CREDIT:

    Flickr user Paul Cowell

  • May 11, 2011

    This short video takes you two hundred miles off the coast of Oregon and some 6,600 feet below the water's surface to observe the Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis bathynectes). Little is known about this deep-sea creature, but if this footage doesn't inspire a whole cadre of budding teuthologists, we don't know what will.

    CREDIT:

    Produced by Nancy Penrose, Music courtesy of Bryan Verhoye

  • May 10, 2011
    A photo of the puffer fish Lagocephalus cf. suezensis

    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. The Indo-Pacific puffer Lagocephalus cf. suezensis (pictured here) is among the more toxic. Ensuring that only the safe puffers make it to market is of concern to the U.S.

    CREDIT:

    Jeffrey T. Williams/Smithsonian Institution

  • May 9, 2011
    A photo of calligrapher Myoung-Won Kwon writing an ocean-themed message.

    "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.

    CREDIT:

    Smithsonian Institution

  • May 5, 2011
    An artist sketches the preserved bones of a specimen in the Smithsonian's collection.

    Rachel Caauwe was one of a dozen artists who spent a recent Saturday sketching specimens from the Smithsonian's musky-scented marine mammal collection. Here she's shown drawing the remains of a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). The workshop, organized by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, focused on larger whales.

    CREDIT:

    Mary Parrish

  • Apr 26, 2011
    red paper lantern jellyfish

    The Encyclopedia of Life and Atlantic Public Media bring us a new installment of the podcast, One Species at a Time. Vacuumed up from its habitat a mile down in the ocean, the red paper lantern jelly may not look like much. Mostly water, it’s so fragile that once brought to the surface it’s reduced to a tattered blob in a jar. But this unassuming jellyfish has lessons for scientists.

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  • Apr 13, 2011
    A poem titled "The Whale" written in magic markers with a drawing of a whale.

    Kids wax poetic in the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History. To celebrate National Poetry Month, visitors on April 9, 2011 were invited to pen a haiku to the ocean blue. Seven-year-old Christine Meng--a true poet--took some creative liberties and expanded the form in a visual direction.

    CREDIT:

    Christine Meng