Waves cresting in the ocean.

Through Time

A Mesozoic Ocean scene

The Ocean Throughout Geologic Time

The ocean has gone through some dramatic transformations over time. This overview dives into our globe's ocean past.

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Featured Content

When Did Today’s Whales Get So Big?

Blue whale skull being installed at National Museum of Natural History.

Flippers or Feet? An Extinct Mammal May Have Been Replaced By Today's Sea Cows

A hippopotamus-like creature swims underwater

Unearthing History: Mary Anning's Hunt for Prehistoric Ocean Giants

Although in reality an ichthyosaur and plesiosaur would have likely never battled, this widely shared lithograph by artist, geologist and paleontologist Henry De la Beche even inspired author Jules Verne to pen a similar scene in his book, Journey to the C

Through Time Articles

The Design of a Beautiful Weapon

This male dancing fiddler crab (Uca terpsichores) has built a sand “hood” at the entrance to his burrow, which he hopes will attract females to his humble abode—as if that big beautiful claw of his weren't enough!

Mary Rice: A Force of Nature

A woman standing in front of a barge

New Archaeocetes from Peru Are the Oldest Fossil Whales from South America

Offshore Peru, during the Eocene (~56-34 million years ago), showing two archaeocetes (ancient whales): Ocucajea picklingi and Supayacetus muizon.

With Every Breath You Take, Thank the Ocean

Kelps are large, brown algae that grow along coasts around the world, especially in cooler regions.

So You Think You're Smarter Than a Cephalopod?

Like other cephalopods, the common cuttlefish (Sepia officials Linnaeus, 1758) possesses serious brain power.

Fossil Whale Found, Excavated, Jacketed, and Returned to STRI!

Smithsonian scientists race the tide the excavate an ancient whale fossil entombed in rock

Flippers or Feet? An Extinct Mammal May Have Been Replaced By Today's Sea Cows

A hippopotamus-like creature swims underwater

Charles Darwin's Ocean Upwelling

The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System consists of the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, offshore atolls, and several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons, and estuaries. The system's seven sites illustrate the evolutionary h