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

Keeping Exploration Alive With Manned Submersibles

The Ocean Portal was lucky enough to join the Deep Reef Observation Project team in...

Personal Perspectives

The Discovery of Two Extreme Sea Stars

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

Personal Perspectives

How Oil Feeds the Deep Sea

There can be catastrophic results when a large amount of oil is spilled into the...

Personal Perspectives

Microbes Help Corals Pick a Home and Settle Down

Bacteria are everywhere in the ocean. They live in the water, on virtually every...

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

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

Coralline Algae: The Unsung Architects of Coral Reefs

Stare at a tide pool and you will often see a crust of pink coating the bottom. No,...

Personal Perspectives

Helpful Herbivores

When snorkeling in the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA) in West...

Personal Perspectives

Field Notes from the East African Coast

We began this journey three months ago, a team of scientists and filmmakers...

Personal Perspectives

Ocean Acidification Excites Boring Sponges

Boring sponges get a bad rap. Their own name betrays them, announcing to the world...

Personal Perspectives

The Search for an Elusive Ribbon Worm

With 1,400 named species of ribbon worms inhabiting every ecosystem on earth,...