Ocean Portal

Every year scientists discover thousands of new species. Sometimes new species are found by scientists exploring new environments where humans rarely venture. Sometimes new species are discovered by taking a closer look at vast natural history collections. And in a rare case, like in the case of a new squat lobster, sometimes a new species of crustacean that lives 4,000 thousand feet under the ocean, is discovered from a plane 35,000 feet up in the air.

The Smithsonian is home to renowned collections of importance and beauty. One unassuming collection housed in the drawers of the botany department of the National Museum of Natural History may not appear particularly awe inspiring—it includes hundreds of sheets containing preserved seaweed. But for scientists studying algae and the ocean it is a priceless gift that catalogues the changes occurring in the marine world. It is also the life’s work of renowned biologist Sylvia Earle.

One of the most sought after and mysterious natural substances throughout history comes from the bowels of a sperm whale. For over a thousand years, ambergris, a waxy substance that washes ashore on beaches around the world, has been sought after for its unique scent. Described as musky with notes of tobacco, sandalwood, and ocean, some of the most famous and notable perfumes relied upon its indescribable yet desirable smell. The perfume makers paid handsomely for it.

On an October day in sunny and warm Gainesville, Florida, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) aquarist Jonathan Quigley walked into a cool, dimly lit lab expecting the day to be like any other. He would come in, care for the corals currently housed in the lab, go home, and repeat the same thing the next day. Instead, he found his fellow USGS scientist, Will Jenkins, excitedly hunched over a dark tank and shining a flashlight onto a small piece of bright orange soft coral.

Above the world, about 550 miles up in space, a satellite orbits the globe and dutifully monitors the ocean. The scientific heart of the satellite is an instrument called a radar interferometer, which uses microwave signals to measure the height of water in Earth’s ocean and freshwater bodies. This is the mission of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a brand-new satellite launched in December 2022.

Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were absent from the US Atlantic Coast for about three hundred years — until one showed up off the coast of Florida just north of Miami in December 2023. A short cell phone video was posted online, briefly capturing the whale’s finless, knobbed back and mottled gray skin as it dove into the vibrant blue water. Gray whales are the only baleen whales with such unique characteristics, leaving little doubt of the identification.

Humans have little evidence of what the Earth looked like early in its existence. Today, the planet is covered in a vast ocean, but billions of years ago that may not have been the case. Scientists have long wondered how and when the ocean formed, and they are still trying to piece together that history.

Many animals can glow in the dark via bioluminescence. On land, these animals include fireflies and glow worms. In the ocean, the ability to bioluminesce is widespread within jellyfish, plankton, and corals. And in the deep ocean, scientists estimate that more than 75% of animals can glow. This natural lightshow has captivated the curiosity of scientists all over the world.

Reviewed by Carole Baldwin, Smithsonian NMNH If the sky briefly went dark during the middle of the day in ancient Greece, people took this to mean that the gods must be angry. Around the world and throughout history, people have had countless variations of these beliefs: the sun must be angry, the sun is sick, or the sun has dropped its torch. An unexpected dark sky brought fear, amazement, and wonder.

Imagine hearing with your jaw — the very same jaw used to catch and eat your food. For the about 75 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the Odonotocete family, also known collectively as the toothed whales, that is their reality. A new study led by Smithsonian Peter Buck Fellow and cetacean evolution and biology expert Dr. Ellen Coombs gives us new insight into the evolutionary history of multi-purpose toothed whale jaws.