Personal Perspectives

Deep-sea octocorals: An ecosystem of their own

The deep-sea is a vast part of the world’s ocean. Even today, it often surprises...

Personal Perspectives

The Discovery of Two Extreme Sea Stars

Recently, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History researcher Chris Mah and...

Personal Perspectives

From Despair to Repair: Protecting Parrotfish Can Help Bring Back Caribbean Coral Reefs

Reef biologists over a certain age are haunted by memories of what glorious places...

Personal Perspectives

Ocean Sampling Day – Taking the Pulse of the World’s Oceans

If you are a bird watcher you have probably heard of the Christmas Bird Count. The...

Personal Perspectives

Little Critters that tell a BIG Story: Benthic Foraminifera and the Gulf Oil Spill

You are not alone if you don’t know what forams (short for foraminifera) are, so...

Personal Perspectives

Signs of a Recovering Harbor

For more than two centuries, Boston Harbor has been a dumping ground. In 1773,...

Personal Perspectives

A Voyage of Discovery to Inner Space

The Mars rover Curiosity is sending images back home: glimpses of another world...

Personal Perspectives

What We DON'T Know About the Deep Sea

Imagine: You’re in a small submersible, and you gently settle on the soft muddy...

Personal Perspectives

Ocean Trash: Marine Debris From Shore to Sea

We drove down a long dirt road on the northern side of Curaçao looking for a...

Personal Perspectives

Diving for Crabs in the Deep Sea

Last week, Smithsonian research zoologists Dr. Jerry Harasewych and Dr. Martha...

Personal Perspectives

A Sub and a Sea Toad

Have you ever seen a creature so unusual?  This fish (22 cm long) is called a...

Personal Perspectives

Witness to a Plastic Invasion

It blew in for two solid days: a flotilla of plastic forks, soda bottles, rubber...