Photo of stuffed elephant in main lobby of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

At The Museum

Preview

Japanese scientists videotaped this female giant squid, alive, at the water's surface

Giant Squid Overview

The National Museum of Natural History is home to one of the few giant squid specimens on display in a museum. Learn more about this mysterious creature in this overview.

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Featured Content

a painting of a ship on a plate of baleen

The Story of Stashed Whale Baleen

A brown and white dragon moray eel with its mouth open.

Surprising Results Upon Reexamining the Curious Jaw of the Moray Eel

A Honduran small-scale fisherman on a boat setting out to fish.

Clever Measures Track Fishing Pressures

The Sant Ocean Hall is the National Museum of Natural History's largest exhibit, providing visitors with a unique and breathtaking introduction to the majesty of the ocean

The Sant Ocean Hall Turns Ten

Forams are tiny single-celled organisms.

Trials and Tribulations with Contamination

At The Museum Articles

Nancy standing by the ocean

Corals to Communication: Nancy Knowlton’s Success Focusing on the Imminent

A gray whale spinal column viewed from the top through the vertebrae.

A Gray Whale Makes its Way to the Smithsonian

Three fishermen sit on wooden stilts that are sticking out of the ocean as they fish.

Fishing for Food Security: Small-Scale Fisheries Are Key

a woman works on a ship in a hard hat and vest

Swimming Against the Tide

a woman with short black hair and a long necklace of pearls sits in front of a microscope and holds a small button coral

Joan Murrell Owens and her Button Corals

a black and white photo of a woman holding a glass award

Dr. Marian Pettibone, A Woman of Firsts

a flounder blends into the sandy seafloor

Fish Fins that can Taste

a man with a hard helmet in a cave

Adaptation in the Extremes: What Scale Worms Teach Us About Evolution

Podcast: Sharon Katz Cooper on Building the Sant Ocean Hall

Image of Brian Huber looking at camera next to microscope.

Podcast: Dr. Brian Huber on Building the Sant Ocean Hall

Michael Vecchione sitting in a lab.

Podcast: Dr. Michael Vecchione on Building the Sant Ocean Hall

Elizabeth Munsteen wears a hardhat in the Ocean Hall while under construction.

Podcast: Elizabeth Munsteen on Building the Ocean Hall

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Smithsonian Institution