The results are in...

by Smithsonian Ocean Team
A great white shark in the waters of the coast of Guadelupe, Mexico.
A great white shark in the waters of the coast of Guadelupe, Mexico. (Caterina Gennaro/Marine Photobank)

In September, during the Sant Ocean Hall's first anniversary celebration, the Ocean Portal Team hit the museum floor to tell visitors about the OP and get some early feedback. Let's face it, we spend a lot of time at our computers, so we were very excited to meet people face-to-face. We asked visitors to vote on which ocean creature they'd like to see featured next on the portal: Chinook salmon, great white sharks, vent worms, or moon jellies. For those who couldn’t visit us in person, we also opened the voting up on our Facebook fan page. All the votes have been tallied, and the winner is...drum roll, please...the great white shark! With 46 total votes, this voracious predator gnawed its way to the top. Moon jellies came in second with 27 votes, followed by vent worms (24 votes) and Chinook salmon (7 votes). Dolphins made the strongest showing among write-in candidates with 11 votes. Thanks to everyone who voted, and keep your eye on the portal (and our Facebook page) for more on the great white shark!