Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Pacific Ocean

Little is known about most magnapinnid, or bigfin squid, species. The individual pictured here was spotted by the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, a magnapinnid was filmed in the Philippine Trench—the deepest ever sighting of a squid.

Scientists Find the World’s Deepest-Dwelling Squid

Researchers went looking for a war wreck roughly 19,000 feet under the sea—and spotted the animal instead

A humpback whale and her calf swim underwater. A recent study in Nature found whales eat and poop way more than previously thought—and that feces plays an important role in fertilizing the ocean.

The Top Ten Ocean Stories of 2021

From the discovery of a large bioluminescent shark to the use of an innovative drone to study hurricanes, these are the best marine stories of the year

The device was developed by The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that aims to remove 90 percent of floating ocean plastic by 2040.

This New Installation Pulled 20,000 Pounds of Plastic From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The trash collection device dubbed ‘Jenny’ could help address overwhelming marine plastic pollution

Gigantic and extinct, Steller’s sea cows would have played an important role in shaping their environment.

How Steller’s Sea Cows Impacted the Environment They Left Behind

A new paper explores the ways these extinct megaherbivores would have reshaped kelp forests across the North Pacific

Three giant rocks—Tokia, Rebua, and Kamatoa—sit in the ocean south of Makin Island in the Republic of Kiribati.

How Indigenous Stories Helped Scientists Understand the Origin of Three Huge Boulders

Legends spurred researchers to form a theory about Makin Island’s distinctively out-of-place rocks

Moai statues at the Rano Raraku site on Easter Island

Genetic Study Maps When and How Polynesians Settled the Pacific Islands

Mysterious stone figures on far-flung islands may have been erected by descendants of seafaring explorers from the same archipelago

Hammerhead sharks have are considered critically endangered.

More Than a Third of Shark Species Are Now Threatened With Extinction

Overfishing, habitat loss and climate change are behind the ‘desperate’ decline

Olive sea snakes are among the largest marine snake species and sometimes make contact with divers.

Venomous Sea Snakes That Charge Divers May Just Be Looking for Love

A new study suggests apparent attacks are actually fleeting cases of mistaken identity

There are many reasons to be worried about the state of the world’s oceans. But some scientists say it’s important to point to successes, in order to motivate people to take further, evidence-based action.

Seven Reasons to Be Optimistic About the World’s Oceans

The health of the ocean is under threat, but these good-news stories deserve attention too

An adult male transient or Bigg's killer whale.

Stranded Killer Whale Survives With the Help of Humans

The whale was spotted stuck among the rocks of an island in Southeast Alaska, but after about six hours on dry land the whale was able to swim off

An opah or moonfish that washed up on Sunset Beach in northern Oregon on July 14.

Brightly Colored, 100-Pound Moonfish Washes Up on Oregon Beach

Scientists say this open-ocean species, also known as an opah, typically inhabits warmer waters than those of the Pacific Northwest

A healthy crop of mussels lines the coast, exposed during low tide. Mussels will split open when they overheat, such as in June's heat wave.

Pacific Northwest and Canada’s Crushing Heat Wave Cooks Millions of Sea Creatures

The estimated death toll could be more than a billion

This image from Seabed 2030 shows how much of the seafloor has been mapped, with black areas representing places without data yet.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

Can Scientists Map the Entire Seafloor by 2030?

Two non-profit organizations are betting that with the help of research institutions, private vessels and new technologies, they can do just that

Recent research has shown that most scientific papers on coral biodiversity are led by people in high-income countries with few coral reefs.

The Pandemic Showed What Can Be Done Without Parachute Science

With international scientists barred from traveling, local scientists in the Pacific islands are taking the chance to lead.

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

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.

New Research

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

Traditionally, when taxonomists examine a potentially new species of octopus, they dissect them, an approach that is highly invasive and nearly destroys the specimen.

New Species of Dumbo Octopus Identified Using 3-D Imaging Techniques

Techniques such as MRI and CT scans may allow researchers to identify and study rare sea specimens without the need for dissection

If you hike to the Minam River Lodge, thinking about the amazing food, including smokehouse bacon and foraged morels, may keep you going.

What a Vintage Guidebook Taught Me About Oregon’s Past and Present

Our writer takes a quirky trip through Oregon, from a wilderness lodge to a Gilded Age saloon to a town hidden underground

Satellite images comparing bull kelp canopy cover (gold shading) 2008 and 2019 off the coast of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties in Northern California.

New Research

Satellite Imagery Shows Northern California Kelp Forests Have Collapsed

Researchers say they’re not sure these iconic coastal ecosystems will be able to make a comeback anytime soon

Page 9 of 17