Even without a trip to the beach or an aquarium, you can still observe ocean wildlife from home. Across the world, there are teams of researchers, aquarists, and wildlife enthusiasts who deploy webcams to share footage of their favorite ocean ecosystems and the species that inhabit them. Here are 10 ocean webcams that give a glimpse into the wonder of the underwater world.
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Coral Reef: The Coral City Camera live streams an urban reef off the coast of Miami, Florida. Deployed by the art-science hybrid group Coral Morphologic, the webcam acts as a research tool to monitor a coral nursery of fragmented brain corals.
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Penguins: The Kansas City Zoo’s penguin colony consists of 16 king penguins and 38 gentoo penguins. King penguins look similar to large emperor penguins, with yellow feathers on their neck and head. The gentoo penguins are smaller with only black and white feathers.
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Kelp Forest: Deployed by the National Park Service, this webcam live streams a kelp forest from Anacapa Island off the coast of California. Kelp forests are rich in biodiversity with hundreds of resident marine species.
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Wrasses: The Aquarium of the Pacific provides a peek at a tropical reef ecosystem inhabited by colorful wrasse and anthia fishes.
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Frying Pan Tower: In Atlantic waters 34 miles off the coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina is Frying Pan Tower, home to several marine species including sharks. The tower’s purpose was once to warn boaters of shallow waters but is now being restored for research and education purposes.
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Manatees: Manatees Hugh and Buffet are long-time residents at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Florida. The two manatees delight daily aquarium visitors and take part in projects that help researchers better understand how manatees perceive and interact with their natural environment.
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Ocean-View Decks: The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a live stream from their ocean-view decks. From here, viewers can often spot otters, harbor seals, and a variety of sea birds.
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Sharks: The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland live streams from their Indo-Pacific reef. Here you can see blacktip reef sharks and rays swimming amongst colorful corals.
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Tropical Reef: This webcam streams from a tropical reef modeled after the coasts of Palau in the Pacific at the Aquarium of the Pacific. This lively exhibit is inhabited by over a thousand animals.
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Jellyfish: Get up close with the Pacific sea nettles at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Watch as their long tentacles covered in stinging cells wave gracefully past the webcam.