Rock on the ocean coast covered with green algae.

Coasts & Shallow Water

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two mangrove trees in the crashing waves

Mangroves Overview

Are you a student researching mangroves or someone looking to learn more about mangrove forests? This overview dives into everything to know.

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Featured Content

Seagrasses are flowering plants that can form dense underwater meadows and are an important shallow water habitat.

Seagrass and Seagrass Beds

Horizontal bands of color represent different species of lichen that have adapted to the conditions at different heights above sea level.

Seaside Lichens

The grasses and animals living in marshes help to filter water and stabilize shorelines, along with providing habitat for a variety of mammals, fish, shellfish and amphibians and a haven for migratory waterfowl.

How Hurricanes Shape Wetlands in Southern Louisiana

Rough periwinkles sit on a bed of barnacles.

Spirals in Time: A Walk at the Seashore

With their brown and yellow markings, seaside sparrows (Ammodramus maritimus) blend in well with marshgrass.

Beyond the Sea: How Oil Spills in the Ocean Affect Birds On Land

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

see all lesson plans Lesson Plan: Secrets of the Sediments

Coasts & Shallow Water Articles

These Smithsonian field stations enable scientists worldwide to conduct long-term studies on mangrove ecosystems.

Smithsonian Research Stations

A map of NOAA's 13 marine protected areas

The Marine Sanctuary: A Safe Harbor for Ocean Life

An algal bloom, also known as a red tide, has converted the ocean's surf to a red color

Scientists Work to Predict and Prevent Algae Blooms

10 grains of star shaped sand collected from southern Japan

The Sant Ocean Hall: Life in the Sand Exhibit

Carrie Bow Cay field station sits in the blue and turquoise waters of Belize.

Tracking volcanic rock to the shores of Belize

A manatee swims in Crystal River, Florida.

From Mermaids to Manatees: the Myth and the Reality

Plastic bottles and other marine debris cover a rocky beach in Curacao.

Fighting Plastic From Every Angle

With their brown and yellow markings, seaside sparrows (Ammodramus maritimus) blend in well with marshgrass.

Beyond the Sea: How Oil Spills in the Ocean Affect Birds On Land

Five Questions with Nancy Rabalais, Tracking Dead Zones In the Gulf

A Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is returned to the ocean.

Images: Conserving Endangered Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles

Mangroves on the edge of the water.

Mangrove Restoration: Letting Mother Nature Do The Work

Manglares en el Borde del Mar

Restauración de manglares: Dejar que la madre naturaleza haga su trabajo

Banner Credit

ACE Elliott, Flickr