Watch the first-ever footage of a ghost shark

Deep Blue is the largest great white shark ever caught on camera

In 2019, Deep Blue was one of three huge great whites spotted off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, an uncommon place for sightings of white sharks. The unique series of sightings aroused curiosity and amazement from islanders and scientists alike.

Why no aquarium has a great white shark

Historically, great white sharks die very quickly in captivity—with the exception of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's successful attempt in 2004. The aquarium held a four-year-old great white for six months. Before that, the longest stint was 16 days. The creatures can only breathe if they are moving forward, making survival difficult in a small tank.

Aerial footage of five killer whales hunting great white sharks

Killer whales near South Africa have been making a meal of one of the ocean’s apex predators. The unique footage served as the basis of a new scientific paper analyzing the orca behavior.

An image of a shark swimming on the freeway repeatedly fools viewers during natural disasters

The long-running joke traces back to 2011, following Hurricane Irene in Puerto Rico. Since then, pranksters have spread the image after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and Hurricane Laura in 2020. The image is photo-edited, combining a 2005 photo of a kayaker being followed by a great white shark and a photo of a flooded street.

Track individual sharks around the world in real time

OCEARCH provides essential data on shark populations and marine ecosystems to support broader conservation efforts. Foster your understanding of marine ecosystems by exploring different species and their movement.

Possible globster sighted on the Oregon coast.

A man riding an ATV on the Oregon coast comes across a “sea monster", which is actually likely a decaying carcass of shark or whale.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The gene that changes sharks to skates

Sharks and skates (similar to stingrays, without the stinger) look different enough that it's reasonable to assume they aren't related. However, a new study suggests that a microscopic change at the cellular level caused skates to branch off from sharks as they evolved. Scientists believe roughly 285 million years ago, the 3D structure of shark DNA shifted, disrupting the relationships between key genes, and resulting in the flat, symmetrical shape of modern skates.

Listen to the earliest known recording of a whale song

A recording of a humpback whale was taken by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution near Bermuda in 1949, but forgotten for decades. When first captured, researchers didn't know what animal they were hearing, and therefore didn't catalogue the recording. The well-preserved audio was found by the team's archivist in 2025.

The animatronic shark from 'Jaws' was a complex machine called 'Bruce'

Affectionately named after Spielberg's lawyer, the elaborate underwater apparatus used to portray the shark in the film was constructed by Robert A. Mattey. He had previously constructed a giant squid for "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," a film Spielberg loved as a child.

Dive into the ocean's hottest water to explore hydrothermal vents

What can live at temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit under skull crushing pressure with zero sunlight? Meet the animals living in the most extreme conditions on Earth in this four-minute video.

Firefly Blue Ghost lands private craft on the moon

On March 2, 2025, Firefly Aerospace landed its Blue Ghost craft on the Moon. The private company then operated the craft for two weeks, conducting surface operations and becoming the first private space company to have a fully successful mission on the Moon. This short video captures pristine, dramatic footage of the mission's successful touchdown.

The fish can climb walls

Scientists in Brazil captured rare footage of bumblebee catfish climbing waterfalls. How they do it is clear, but why remains a mystery.

Korea's "real-life mermaids"

Explore the incredible world of Haenyeo, Korea's female freedivers who dive to depths of up to 60 feet without oxygen tanks. These amazing women have been practicing this ancient tradition for centuries, and yet, their story remains largely unknown.

In 2022, a piece of Challenger was discovered on the ocean floor

While searching for World War II wreckage near Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a documentary, divers discovered debris on the seafloor that NASA later confirmed to be a piece of Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. The piece is at least 15-by-15 feet in size and partially buried under sand.

View some of the most invasive species in US waters

Introduced in the late 1600s from Eastern Asia, the goldfish is considered the first invasive fish in North America. The venomous lionfish is safe to consume, but catching it is complicated by its reluctance to respond to hook-and-line-style fishing attempts.

NASA captures image of ghostly cosmic hand

NASA's X-ray space telescopes, Chandra and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, have joined forces to study a hand-shaped structure in space, revealing the magnetic field "bones" of a pulsar wind nebula. Pulsars are rotating neutron stars with strong magnetic fields, creating extreme physics conditions. The combined data from these telescopes provide insight into how pulsars inject particles into space and shape their environment, with the magnetic field playing a crucial role.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

Pterosaurs were dinosaur cousins that ruled the skies

Giant flying lizards or massive leathery birds? Pterosaurs were neither. What they were were the first vertebrates to fly through the skies. This National Geographic video discusses the anatomical features that made their flight possible, how big these awesome creatures could get, and which species was named after a legendary vampire.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

George Méliès' 'The Haunted Castle' is considered the first horror film

The 1896 film short uses a series of camera tricks to depict supernatural experiences, including a bird turning into a man and a woman being summoned from a smoking cauldron. Its subject matter and surprising visuals have led scholars to call it the first horror film.

Santa Barbara's Channel Islands revealed the oldest skeletal remains in North America

IN 1959, archaeologists found a human femur jutting out from a rock face on Santa Rosa Island. Using the then-new technology of radiocarbon dating, they measured the age of the remains at 13,000 years—the oldest in the continent.

YouTube's first video was grainy video of co-founder Jawed Karim at the zoo

Some 500 hours of content are posted to YouTube every minute. The video at the beginning of that massive growing stream of content is this one—"Me at the Zoo." Uploaded in April 2005 by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, it shows him at the San Diego Zoo talking about elephants.

Watch a time-lapse of hard coral growth, which forms coral reefs

Over several weeks in an aquarium, these staghorn coral polyps grew and produced new polyps as they deposited calcium carbonate, which forms the basis of coral reefs. At the 0:28 mark, you can see coral growth healing a damaged branch.

Unprecedented imaging of the Vibrio bacteria, published in 2026, may highlight new treatment targets

Researchers have produced the most detailed image ever of a key part of the Vibrio bacteria—the cause of cholera—known as the sheathed flagellum, which helps it move.

America's most haunted restaurants

If you're seeking a ghost encounter to go with your meal, consult this list from Infatuation that presents some of the most haunted restaurants and bars in the US. Depending on your mood, make a visit to a casual sports bar, fine dining establishment, or eerie mansion, and potentially witness a spirit. Some might mess with the electricity, some might prank you, and some may simply wander around as you enjoy bites and sips.

Watch the director's cut of the award-winning documentary about LIGO

Production on the film began in August 2015, shortly before the facilities detected gravitational waves for the first time on September 14. Those interviewed, including future Nobel Laureates Kip Thorne and Barry Barish, provide their accounts of the discovery as events unfold in real time.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

See the world's first-known photo of a wild white Iberian lynx

Described by the photographer as the "white ghost of the Mediterranean forest," the lynx is a vulnerable species. Catching the genetic anomaly on camera is a testament to conservation efforts that began in 2011.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.