Sea Creatures

Plastic ice bag found by a NOAA expedition to the Marianas in 2016

Even the Deepest Parts of the Ocean Are Polluted With Startling Amounts of Plastic

A review of data from 5,010 ROV dives reveals and abundance of single-use plastics littering the seas

A pelagic snail ensnares food with with a mucous web.

These Strange Ocean Creatures Trap Their Food In a Net of Mucus

Biologists are finding that these invertebrate grazers can actually be picky eaters—and their choices might influence ocean food webs

The group of Muuscoctopus found on the Dorado Outcrop.

Colony of Beautiful, Doomed Purple Octopuses Found Off Costa Rica

Hundreds of unidentified cephalopods were found nursing their eggs near a deep-sea vent

Everyone knows about shallow coral reefs like this one, which Shepherd captured during a decompression stop up from a mesophotic dive. Far fewer know about the deep reefs that lie just below them.

Illuminating the Ocean’s Teeming Twilight Zone, Before It Disappears

Like underwater islands, these deep reefs harbor countless creatures that scientists have never heard of, and many they never will

Curasub commissioner/owner Adriaan Schrier and lead DROP scientist Carole Baldwin aboard the custom-built submersible.

How a Team of Submersible-Bound Scientists Redefined Reef Ecosystems

In tropical Curaçao, Smithsonian researchers are constantly confronting the unknown

This Crab Doesn't Take Kindly to Home Intruders

The crown-of-thorns starfish eats coral reefs; coral reefs happen to be the home of the guard crab

Storm Emma has caused one of the UK's largest mass strandings of sea critters along the North Sea coast.

Tens of Thousands of Sea Creatures Wash Up on UK Shores Following Freezing Weather

Piles of starfish, crab, mussels and lobsters collected along the North Sea coast

Manta Rays Use Tiny Fish to Help Them Stay Clean

Wrasse perform a vital cleaning function for other fish, by ridding their bodies of dead cells and parasites

A large female Greenland shark observed near the community of Arctic Bay, Nunavut.

The World's Most Ancient, Elusive Sharks Were Finally Caught on Video

Greenland sharks, which can live more than 400 years, reveal how little we know about life in the coldest oceans

The Story Behind Big Sur's Glowing Waves

Photographer George Krieger captured the unusual scene in vivid detail

Turtle Hatchlings Face Death While Dashing to Ocean

On the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef, the first turtle hatchlings emerge from their shells and make a run for the ocean

Watch This Male Mantis Shrimp Dance to Attract a Mate

Mantis shrimp have a reputation as fighters and it's well deserved. But they also have a romantic side to them

The American eel fishery has historically focused on mature eels (as shown here), which are exported around the world. But these days, there’s more money to be made from juveniles.

The Epic Fight Over the Enigmatic Eel

The slippery fish is at the center of a Canadian national debate about economics, conservation and Indigenous rights

Extremely Rare (and Peculiar) Fish Found Off Coast of Tasmania

The new population could double the known numbers of these oddball creatures

Electric Eels Inspire a New Type of Battery

Researchers took a cue from the electric eel to create a soft, foldable battery that could one day power devices like pacemakers

From developmental problems to reproductive issues, drug waste is affecting marine wildlife.

How Drugged-Up Shellfish Help Scientists Understand Human Pollution

These involuntary medicine-guzzlers have much tell us about the consequences of pharmaceutical waste

An oyster-dominated anti-erosion structure in Texas

As Storms Get Bigger, Oyster Reefs Can Help Protect Shorelines

Municipalities and military bases are using the bivalve to defend against flooding and damage from climate change-driven storms

Low oxygen caused the death of these corals and others in Bocas del Toro, Panama. The dead crabs pictured also succumbed to the loss of dissolved oxygen.

Why Our Oceans Are Starting to Suffocate

A new paper links global warming to diminished oxygen concentrations at sea

The stunning image that opens the Siphonophorae chapter in The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel. Each gelatinous siphonophore is actually a group of colonial organisms all living and working together. To grow, they clone themselves—each new minion specialized for a specific function.

This 19th-Century Illustrator Found Beauty in the Slimiest of Sea Creatures

A new book chronicles Ernst Haeckel's life and his gorgeous renderings of wild things—scales, spikes, tentacles and all

Scientists Record the Thunderous Call of the Loudest Known Fish

The Gulf corvina’s collective mating call is so powerful that it can damage the hearing of sea lions and dolphins

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