Canoe hulls on a sandy shore are painted with traditional Alaskan figures.

The Cook islands banknote

Sharks and Humans

Explore the love-hate relationship between humans and sharks.

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Featured Content

Navigating the Waters with Micronesian Stick Charts

A square of interwoven sticks and cowrie shells

April 2020

two images cropped together of women at desks facing each other

Timeline

An Irrepressible Wave

Wood Under Sand: The Search for A Slave Shipwreck

Divers at a shipwreck site

October 2017

The Cultural Icescapes of the Arctic

A walrus sits on top of ice.

March 2014

Scientists are finding ways to preserve and study sunken warships

Video

Battle of the Atlantic

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.

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History & Cultures Articles

Why a Tusk? The real-life unicorns of the sea and the tusks that make them famous

A narwhal breaches the surface, its tusk pointed to the sky

August 2017

Master carver Douglas Chilton rides in the Raven Spirit canoe at its ceremonial launch.

Slideshow

Raven Spirit: A Native American Canoe's Journey

Navigating the Waters with Micronesian Stick Charts

A square of interwoven sticks and cowrie shells

April 2020

Illustration of a giant squid versus a merman.

Slideshow

From Mermen to Architeuthis, Our Fascination with the Giant Squid

The Enchanting Sea Monsters on Medieval Maps

A sea monster attacks a wooden ship

October 2013

Tohunga Tohorā’s Intuition Reveals New Whale Species

a Māori woman in a navy blue fleece holds the skull of a beaked whale

October 2021

Ángeles Alvariño: Woman of Many Namesakes

An arrow-worm from the genus Spadella. Alvariño discovered and classified the species Spadella gaetanoi in 1978.

August 2017

Nimble Fingers: the Women Behind Maine’s Canneries

a woman's hands close a tin of sardines near a pile of empty cans

September 2021

A screenshot from the video of a carver using traditional tools to shape a canoe.

Video

Carver Douglas Chilton at Work

The siphonophores are an order of marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria (the same phylum containing jellyfish).

Slideshow

Prints from Ernst Haeckel

Naturally Resilient

Nuclear bomb in Bikini Atoll

May 2013

During what is known as the Golden Age of Piracy, pirates reaped great rewards—and, if they were caught, faced terrible punishments. Here are some of the most legendary pirates of that time.

Slideshow

Pirates of the Golden Age