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

Sharks and Humans: A Love-Hate Story

The Cook islands banknote

June 2016

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

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

Is It Love? Why Some Ocean Animals (Sort Of) Mate For Life

An albatross soars over the ocean.

February 2015

As soon as Dampier set foot in Australia, he began making observations and collecting specimens of plants, which he carefully pressed between the pages of books to be studied by the “ingenious” and “curious” upon his return to England. As Dampier conducted his investigations, his artist made detailed sketches like these.

Slideshow

Discoveries in Australia and New Guinea

Underwater WWII Wrecks – Pollution or Cultural Heritage?

Fish swim around the wreck of the HMT Bedfordshire, an Arctic fishing trawler that was converted into an anti-submarine warship during World War II, and sunk off the coast of North Carolina.

January 2013

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

Timeline

A History of the Carrie Bow Cay Station

These Sleek, Sexy Cars Were All Inspired by Fish

A Chevrolet Mako Corvette

August 2016

a woman beating a drum

Video

Celebrating the Raven Spirit Canoe Launch

Archaeologists Study Early Whaling Community in Quebec, Canada

Two men each hold a ceramic vessel at the archaeological excavation

September 2011

The Cultural Icescapes of the Arctic

A walrus sits on top of ice.

March 2014

William Dampier - The Pirate Who Collected Plants

This portrait of William Dampier hangs in London’s National Gallery in recognition of his contribution to natural history.

December 2017

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

Slideshow

Prints from Ernst Haeckel

the titanic underwater

Video

The Titanic Wrecksite