Sea Creatures

One 23-year-old supermom gave birth to 17 pups over her lifetime

Select Elephant Seal ‘Supermoms’ Produce Most Pups

The most successful seal mothers were those that 'bred at every opportunity and lived long'

A wild southern sea otter off Moss Landing in California

Parasite Spread by House Cats Is Killing California’s Sea Otters

To counter the parasite's spread, cat owners should keep their pets indoor and dispose of feline feces in the trash rather than the toilet or outdoors

In a fit of pique, according to one of Aesop's fables, the god Hermes made the animal carry its house forever on its back.

How the Turtle Got Its Shell, With Apologies to Aesop

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues unpacks the complicated evolution of how this creature grew a home upon its back

Scientists think gigantic crinoids would cling to logs with anchor-like stems, creating a floating raft that likely supported a host of other species and enabled their long-distance transport across Jurassic seas.

Ancient Sea Life May Have Hitched Across Oceans on Giant Living Rafts

Enormous crinoids of the Jurassic era, related to sea stars and sea urchins, could have carried whole ecosystems around the world

Csilla Ari D’Agostino sits in front of the Aquarius habitat and uses a waterproof iPad for cognitive tests as part of her research on NEEMO 23.

NASA Scientists and Astronauts Practice for Space Missions on the Seafloor

A female-led crew trained for nine days in an undersea laboratory in the Atlantic to get a sense of what it's like to live and work in microgravity

Marine species with fluorescent proteins absorb, transform and reemit light, generating a spectacular display of color in the process.

Amazing Photos Reveal the Hidden Light of Undersea Life

Photographer Louise Murray dips into the dark ocean to capture the spectacle of marine fluorescence

Mariam the dugong photographed as she is cared for by park officials and veterinarians from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre on Libong island.

Friendly Baby Dugong Becomes Conservation Symbol in Thailand

‘Mariam,’ who was found without her mother, has gone viral after images of her nuzzling the experts who care for her started to circulate

Watch First Footage of Giant Squid Filmed in American Waters

The deep-sea footage also marks a rare sighting of a giant squid in its natural habitat

Two Captive Beluga Whales Are Heading to First-of-Its-Kind Sanctuary in Iceland

It is the first refuge of its kind for belugas

Artist Gary Staab assembles the massive megalodon. A scale model at the bottom right shows what the finished creature will look like.

Reimagining the Megalodon, the World's Most Terrifying Sea Creature

The ancient beast of the oceans comes to life in a new display at the National Museum of Natural History

Planktonic foraminifera assemblage from Caribbean sediments that provide an accurate picture of the species community before human influence. Each shell is less than one millimeter in size.

Plankton Haven’t Been the Same Since the Industrial Revolution

Changes in plankton populations over the past centuries correlate with rising sea temperatures

This Prehistoric Fish Makes a Great White Look Like a Goldfish

Meet Dunkleosteus, perhaps the fiercest fish that ever existed

Scallops can have up to 200 eyes, although scientists still don't know exactly how they all work together to help the mollusks see.

What Scallops' Many Eyes Can Teach Us About the Evolution of Vision

Scallop eyes, which function similar to telescopes, are even more complex than scientists previously knew

The first test of a thermonuclear weapon, or a hydrogen bomb, codenamed Ivy Mike and conducted by the United States in 1952 over the island of Elugelab in Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

Particles From Cold War Nuclear Bomb Tests Found in Deepest Parts of the Ocean

Crustaceans in the Mariana Trench and other underwater canyons feed on food from the surface laced with carbon-14 from Cold War bomb tests

Artistic reconstruction of Callichimaera perplexa, the "strangest crab that has ever lived."

Fossil Discovery Has Scientists Questioning: What Makes a Crab a Crab?

The newly described C. perplexa seems to have retained larval features into adulthood

Scientists Spot Beautiful Optical Illusion at Bottom of the Sea

More than 6,000 feet under the surface of the ocean, the extreme conditions can play tricks on your eyes

Hungry Otters Are Creating a Unique Archaeological Record

By bashing mussel shells onto stones, otters leave behind traces of their activity

“Courting Devil Ray Ballet” by Duncan Murrell

These Are the Best Practices for Underwater Photographers Hoping to Protect Marine Life

You can look—and even use flash photography—but don’t touch

Eyes of Queen conch, Caribbean (Strombus gigas).

The Bahamas’ Conchs Have Undergone ‘Serial Depletion’

But it's not too late to save them

‘Bouncing’ Baby Orca Spotted Among Endangered Population

Researchers hope the new baby will reverse an unfortunate trend that has seen no southern resident orca calves survive over the past three years

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