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Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Corals as far as the eye can see, with dark blue fishes swimming above

U.S. Needs to Diversify Marine Protected Areas to Reap Full Benefits

Almost all the marine protected areas in the U.S. sit in the central Pacific Ocean, while fragile ecosystems in other regions are being left out

Orange scalefin anthias fish swarm in front of a fire coral in the Red Sea's Ras Mohammed Marine Park, Egypt. (Credit: Alex Mustard, Ocean Image Bank).

Reef Robots. Predicting Marine Life Like Weather. Meet the Ocean of 2030.

Imagine a world where an indigenous fisher can get forecasts of local marine life from a smart phone, or a team of robots can offer real-time data on coral reef health. That's the vision of two Smithsonian projects highlighted by the United Nations for its Decade of Ocean Science.

North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) at Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. (Credit: Keenan Adams, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

River Otters Take Party Pooping To A New Level

For river otters, pooping is a social event. And their droppings are providing a heap of information for biologists.

Lontra canadensis, the North American river otter. (Credit: Matthew Fryer)

The Secret Lives of River Otters (And Their Parasites)

If you live along the water but have never seen a river otter, it's probably because they're mostly nocturnal, and very shy. But these secretive creatures, and their parasites, hold lots of clues for scientists looking to understand disease.

Spathoglottis petri, one of Palau's native orchids. (Photo: Benjamin Crain/SERC)

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.

Cownose rays are migratory animals that come into the Chesapeake in summer and swim to Florida for the winter. (Credit: Jay Fleming/SERC)

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.

A Chinese mitten crab found in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, in 2007. Chinese mitten crabs are most recognizable by their brown, spiny shells and furry “mittened” claws. (Credit: SERC)

Wanted: The Hunt for Chinese Mitten Crabs Is Back On

An army of invading crabs has disappeared. But scientists are skeptical about whether they’re gone for good, or just hiding. As warmer temps lure people onto the water, Smithsonian scientists are asking boaters to report any sightings of the elusive Chinese mitten crab.

Male Bocon toadfish of Panama attract mates by singing in a series of “grunts” and “boops.” (Credit: Study authors)

The Ugly Fish That Sings Its Own Song

SERC marine biologist Brianna Tracy holds a plate with marine life pulled from a dock in San Francisco. (Credit: Kristen Minogue/SERC)

Citizen Science: Help Spot Invaders With Your Smart Phone

SERC interns Michelle Edwards (left) and Claire Mueller (right) get ready to release a tagged bull shark. (Credit: Jay Fleming/Smithsonian)

Intern Logs: Tagging Sharks in the Sunshine State

The awesomely beautiful tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of Kansas. The Flint Hills contains the majority of the remaining tallgrass prairie in the United States, thanks to its rocky soil that prevented farmers from plowing it under to farm the fertile soils. (Credit: Kim La Pierre)

Confessions of a Real Life Scientist: Grasslands of the World

Katrina Lohan analyzes parasite DNA in SERC’s Ecological Genomics Core. The results help detect parasites infecting oysters or lurking the ballast water of large ships. (Credit: Kristen Minogue/SERC)

Confessions of a Real Life Scientist: The Thrill of Learning

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