Oceans

A giant replica of the Aedes mosquito, a known vector for the disease yellow fever, has been waiting for visitors to return the National Museum of Natural History’s “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World” exhibit.

Don't Miss These Objects When the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum Reopens

See everything from a giant replica of a mosquito, to an Allosaurus fossil, to a pink fairy armadillo when the museum opens June 18

Small family-run dive tour operations in Mexico have been found to give more back to their communities than large foreign-owned businesses.

In Mexico, Dive Tourism Is Worth as Much as Fishing

Researchers estimate diving and snorkeling bring in up to $725 million annually

Sometime between 30-40 seconds after the diver was swallowed, the whale began to move its head from side to side and then resurfaced.

A Cape Cod Lobster Diver Was Swallowed by a Humpback Whale—and Then Spat Back Out

Except for severe bruising and a dislocated knee, the survivor is in good health and ready to return to work, he says

This jellyfish, Scolionema suvaense, was raised in the National Museum of Natural History’s Invertebrate Zoology “AquaRoom.” Here, the species is sinking through food with its tentacles spread wide.

Live Jellyfish Make a Splash in Marine Education

Smithsonian's AquaRoom helps scientists learn more about these animals’ lives and educate future generations about their marine neighbors

The Southern Ocean is defined by a swift undertow called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) that flows from West to East around Antarctica.

National Geographic Officially Recognizes the Southern Ocean as World's Fifth Ocean

The organization's cartographers will now label a total of five oceans on their maps and atlases

Tinier whales threaten the species’ survival because smaller whales do not have as many offspring. Nursing mothers who entangle themselves in nets also produce smaller calves.

Humans, We've Shrunk the Whales

North Atlantic right whales born today are three feet shorter on average than whales born in 1980—and commercial fishing could be to blame

Combining carbon dioxide and calcium creates calcium carbonate rocks such as limestone.

To Combat Climate Change, Researchers Want to Pull Carbon Dioxide From the Ocean and Turn It Into Rock

Running seawater through an ocean carbon capture plant could chemically convert carbon dioxide to limestone on a grand scale

While most open ocean sharks disappeared after the event, coastal sharks survived, and today's sharks most likely ascended from the survivors.

A Puzzling Extinction Event Almost Wiped Sharks Out of Existence 19 Million Years Ago

Sediment cores show that shark populations declined by 90% during the Miocene, but no one knows why

Coral reef health is an important indicator of the ocean’s well-being. Scientists can study corals to learn more about how climate change is affecting the oceans.

DNA Makes Waves in the Fight to Save Coral Reefs

This emerging technique could help scientists understand and anticipate the threats coral reefs face

Remnants of a supernova called Cassiopeia A, located in our galaxy about 11,000 light-years from Earth. Scientists have long thought that supernovae were responsible for the creation of the heaviest elements, but new research suggests other types of stellar events may also be in play.

Scientists Find Plutonium Made in Outer Space on Ocean Floor

Research suggests the rare, heavy element may have been created by the collision of two neutron stars

Based on the size of the footballfish and the protruding appendage on the top of its head, state park officials said the fish is female. Female footballfish are the only ones that have the long bioluminescent appendages used to lure other fish toward their mouths.

A Jet-Black, Bioluminescent 'Football Fish' Washed Up on a California Beach

The sea creature typically lives in depths of 3,000 feet and rarely shows up on shore in one piece

Just one section of a marine worm with a strange, branching body. This species usually lives inside the many-chambered body of a sea sponge

This Marine Worm Sprouts Hundreds of Butts—Each With Its Own Eyes and Brain

When it’s time to reproduce, each of the worm’s many rear ends will swim off to get fertilized

A young green sea turtle with a solar-powered satellite tag that was used to track it to the Sargasso Sea.

Baby Sea Turtles Spend 'Lost Years' in Sargasso Sea

Researchers used tracking tags to solve the mystery of where young green sea turtles go after they hatch on the beach

Great white sharks travel hundreds of miles to specific locations in the world’s oceans.

New Evidence Suggests Sharks Use Earth's Magnetic Field to Navigate

Bonnethead sharks swam in the direction of their home waters when placed in a tank charged with an electromagnetic field

Many organisms like coral—and even people—create their own minerals to perform basic life functions. Geologists can study these biominerals to learn more about Earth.

How Biominerals are Stepping Stones for Climate Change Research

Geologists are providing key insight into how the Earth might transform in the coming decades from climate change

The boba shortage is expected to affect the entire bubble tea industry in the U.S., especially businesses on the West coast.

West Coast Bubble Tea Shops Brace for Boba Shortage as Cargo Ships Jam Los Angeles Ports

The popular sweet drink might not be available in some locations for awhile due to shipping delays

New research examining Mexican fishermen’s catches suggests the Gulf of California may be an overlooked great white shark nursery or pupping ground.

The Gulf of California May Be an Overlooked Home for Great White Sharks

The existence of an artisanal fishery in the region shows that these key predators may be more than just occasional visitors

Blue pieces of microplastic viewed under a microscope alongside dust, minerals and charcoal collected from a park in Idaho.

Airborne Microplastics 'Now Spiral Around the Globe'

Researchers find the tiny synthetic particles can stay aloft for nearly a week and travel large distances in the wind

The female sawfish (pictured) is 16 feet long and estimated to weigh between 800 and 1,000 pounds. It's the longest smalltooth sawfish ever measured by scientists.

Record-Breaking 16-Foot-Long Sawfish Washes Ashore in the Florida Keys

In a rare occurrence, a second 12-foot-long juvenile sawfish was found dead on a different beach in the state during the same week

As many as 70 orcas cooperatively hunted, killed and ate a roughly 50-foot long blue whale last month off the coast of Australia.

More Than 50 Orcas Hunt and Kill Blue Whale Off Australian Coast

This is one of just a handful of times that orcas have ever been recorded killing a blue whale

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