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Oceans

Migaloo and a companion in 2005.

Cool Finds

Track the Whereabouts of This Rare White Whale on Twitter

These beautiful creatures have long delighted those lucky enough to catch a glimpse

An up close view of coral

Cool Finds

Watch Corals in Action With New Underwater Microscope

The Benthic Underwater Microscope opens up a whole new age of ocean exploration

Two skulls belonging to extinct marine mammal herbivores used in the new study, both from the Smithsonian's collections.

When Did Today’s Whales Get So Big?

More recently than you might think, say scientists who scoured the fossil record

New Research

Did Ancient Pacific Islanders Use Obsidian to Make Their Tattoos?

A team of Australian researchers think they may have found tools used to ink the ancients

An acorn worm observed at a dive spot called Twin Peaks

Journey to the Center of Earth

Mission to Mariana Trench Records Dozens of Crazy Deep Sea Creatures

The Okeanos Explorer has spent three months mapping the seafloor and recording deep sea life in the ocean’s depths

Trash on Cheung Sha Beach, Lantau

Trending Today

Hong Kong Beaches Are Swamped With Trash, and No One Knows Why

The piles of rubbish could be transported by ocean currents or recent floods

Shark Week

Sharks and Humans: A Love-Hate Story

A short history of our relationship with the ocean’s most intimidating fish

Mom, is that you?

New Research

Every Sperm Whale Alive Today May Have Descended From the Same Female

An 80,000-year-old “Eve” was the mother of all modern sperm whales—literally

Rough diamonds from the Juina region of Brazil.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Diamonds Illuminate the Origins of Earth’s Deepest Oceans

Crystals could be the key to where our water came from, and what that means for finding life on other planets

That's one big pile of crabs.

Cool Finds

Watch a Horde of Giant Crabs Amass Off of the Australian Coast

Hundreds. Of thousands. Of crabs.

A drawing of one of the Athenian ship sheds built in the harbors of Piraeus

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Uncover Massive Naval Bases of the Ancient Athenians

Researchers have excavated ship sheds in the city of Piraeus that held triremes from the pivotal Battle of Salamis

The 'Andrea Doria' in its last hours

New Research

New Footage Shows Rapid Breakdown of Shipwreck ‘Andrea Doria’

Researchers visited the remains of the Italian luxury liner in a submersible to figure out how quickly wrecks deteriorate

Artist's rendering of the first U.S. dolphin sanctuary

Trending Today

National Aquarium Will Move Dolphins to Seaside Sanctuary by 2020

Under mounting public pressure, the aquarium’s eight bottle-nosed dolphins will soon move to a seaside retreat in the tropics

A preserved specimen of the Blue Lanternfish with bioluminescent spots. New research shows that the blue lanternfish's glow isn't that unique - among ocean-dwelling fish, four out of five are bioluminescent.

Way More Fish Can Make Their Own Light Than We Thought

Bioluminescence evolved a whopping 27 separate times among finned fishes living in the open ocean

Age of Humans

The Rise of Ocean Optimism

Sharing news of little wins for the environment fuels hope.

An Airbus A300 jumbo jet like this has been sunk off the Turkish coast to create an artificial reef.

Trending Today

Turkey Sunk an Airplane to Turn It Into a Reef

An Airbus jumbo jet will soon become home to all sorts of sea life

Larval perch with a stomach full of microplastic

New Research

Baby Fish Prefer Plastic Over Natural Food

Larval perch gorge themselves on microplastics, which seems to be stunting growth and affecting natural instincts

Pozzi and her team at the Washed Ashore project, achieve a remarkable and convincing array of textures.

Age of Humans

There’s a Bunch of Animals at the Zoo this Summer Made Out of Ocean Garbage

Delightfully whimsical, the sculptures drive home the message that there’s a whole lot of trash washing ashore

These comical looking mollusks are common to the Caribbean. Their eyes poke out on stalks from inside large, pink, beautiful shells, and they move along one “step” at a time, with a lift and a flop, leaving tracks behind in the sand.

An Elegant Tool Called Squidpop That Scientists Want to Crowdsource

The device is so easy to use, researchers are asking for a “squidpop blitz” for World Oceans Day

The longer a structure has been exposed to the water, the more weathered it appeared.

New Research

This “Lost Underwater City” Was Actually Made by Microbes

Though these formations may not be evidence of a lost city, they show off some intriguing chemistry

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