The Secret Orchids of Palau
The island nation of Palau is home to nearly 100 different species of native orchids. More than 30 are found nowhere else on Earth. Smithsonian biologists journeyed to the islands to find secrets to conserving them.
For The First Time, Biologists Track Cownose Rays To Florida And Back
Every summer, cownose rays stream into Chesapeake Bay to mate and give birth to their pups. When autumn comes, they disappear—presumably to migrate south, but no one knew for certain where they spent the winter. Now, after a three-year tagging study published Aug. 23 and led by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), scientists have solved the mystery. Cownose rays all along the Atlantic winter near Cape Canaveral, Florida, and it’s likely they return to the same spots each summer.