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PHOTO Shortfin Mako Shark The shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) is found offshore in tropical and warm temperate waters of all oceans, but has been known to travel to cooler waters at times. It is very strong a...MORE PHOTOS


	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Ray Bradbury and the Sea Today Ray Bradbury died. It might seem strange that I'm writing about Bradbury h...
	IMAGE GALLERY MORE GALLERIES Image Gallery: The Perfect Underwater Photo For nearly 35 years, National Geographic photojournalist Brian Skerry has been i...
	PHOTO MORE PHOTOS Bowl Glazed with Deep Ocean Sediments Massachusetts ceramics artist Joan Lederman glazes her work—including this bowl—...

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					Adélie Penguins Face Off Apr 15, 2013 - 10:25AMThese cute Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) are actually having a bit of a spat. In the spring (October for them), the penguins form breeding colonies on rocky coasts with thousands of birds in a group. Krill, a tiny...

Harp Seal, Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada

Apr 3, 2013 - 9:04AM

Harp seals are protected in the United States by the Marine Mammal...

Grey Reef Shark, West New Britain, Father Reefs, Papua New Guinea

Mar 28, 2013 - 9:45AM

Gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are known for being active at...

SPOTLIGHT


Five Questions for Callum Roberts, Author and Professor Callum Roberts is a professor of marine conservation at the University of York in England and an author. His first book,...

Hammerhead Shark at Sunset Nov 28 2012 - 2:34pm A male great hammerhead shark swims in the Bahamas at sunset in this image captured by National Geographic photojournalist Brian Skerry. For nearly 30 years, Skerry has been swimming with and photographing sharks, including great whites, tigers, bulls, blacktips, and great hammerheads all over...	Bowl Glazed with Deep Ocean Sediments Jul 16 2012 - 10:22am Massachusetts ceramics artist Joan Lederman glazes her work—including this bowl—with deep sea sediments. Some contain tiny single-celled organisms called foraminifera. Lederman has noticed that sediments with foraminifera often make branching patterns—like the ones you see on this bowl. “I hear and...
X-Ray Image of Grooved Razorfish Dec 5 2012 - 11:09am An X-ray image of grooved razorfish, Centriscus scutatus. Razorfish are encased in thin, transparent bony plates attached to their spines, which you can see in the X-ray.	Coral Hermit Crab Dec 19 2011 - 2:48pm A coral hermit crab, Paguritta harmsi, about the size of two grains of rice, living in coral in the waters of Japan's Ogasawara Islands.
Robinson Crusoe Cover Painting by N.C. Wyeth Jul 27 2010 - 5:59pm Dampier is credited with helping to rescue Alexander Selkirk, the privateer who inspired the Robinson Crusoe story.	Ladies Silurian Atoll from the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Oct 14 2010 - 5:24pm A piece of the Institute For Figuring’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef known as the Ladies Silurian Atoll. The HCCR exhibit was on display in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, from October 16, 2010 through April 24, 2011.
Grey Reef Shark, West New Britain, Father Reefs, Papua New Guinea Mar 28 2013 - 9:45am Gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) are known for being active at night. They are considered Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List due to fishing and the loss of their coral reef habitat. The sinister animal, with its sleek body, can be quite aggressive when directly threatened.	Black Skimmer, Nickerson Beach, Long Island, N.Y., USA Dec 23 2010 - 2:59pm “I visited the beach at sunrise after high tide and found this skimmer feeding, providing me with this reflected shot.” -- Nature's Best photographer, James A. Galletto. See more beautiful ocean photos in our slideshow of winners from the 2010 Nature's Best Ocean Views photo contest.
The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Oct 14 2010 - 5:10pm The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring, weaves together strands of art, science, mathematics, and conservation. This beautiful installation has traveled around the world, and in many locations has been exhibited alongside a “...	Flippers, Jawbones, and Blowholes: Marine Specimens Inspire Artists May 5 2011 - 2:49pm Rachel Caauwe was one of a dozen artists who spent a recent Saturday sketching specimens from the Smithsonian's musky-scented marine mammal collection. Here she's shown drawing the remains of a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). The workshop, organized by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators,...
Grey Seal Strikes a Pose Jun 29 2012 - 8:42pm A Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) poses in the waters off Acadia National Park in Maine. Grey seals live on both coasts of the Northern Atlantic, with breeding colonies in Great Britain, Ireland, and down the eastern coast of North America from Canada down to New Jersey. They used to be hunted in...	Artist Shih Chieh Huang Aug 25 2011 - 2:53pm Artist Shih Chieh Huang assembling one of his installations. Huang was a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow in 2007 and spent his time studying bioluminescent marine animals.
The Making of "The Bright Beneath" Sep 6 2011 - 3:32pm Follow an artist from inspiration to installation in this short video. It features the work in the exhibit, "The Bright Beneath: The Luminous Art of Shih Chieh Huang," at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Huang created the installation of light-filled, animated objects after a...	Harp Seal, Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada Apr 3 2013 - 9:04am Harp seals are protected in the United States by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Although they are not considered endangered, as sea ice melting earlier and earlier each year, available harp seal breeding grounds are being lost in the North Atlantic and Arctic.
Lemon Shark, Offshore Grand Bahamas Island Feb 6 2013 - 9:47am At night this lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) lurks at the surface, but often during the day they will lie on the ocean bottom. This behavior had been thought to save them energy, but in reality it takes energy for the shark to push water over their gills while not moving. They may be lying...	Making Science Sing: The Longest Time (Coral Triangle Edition) Jul 9 2012 - 12:16pm How do you make science sing? Just ask a couple of female scientists to sing about their research interests and their passion is quickly conveyed in a quirky little tune. Informative, inspiring, and a little bit silly are all adjectives that aptly describe this music video performed and produced by...