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

Watch the first-ever footage of a ghost shark

In 2009, the pointy-nosed blue chimaera was filmed swimming in the deep sea. That same year, researchers first observed them off the coast of California and Hawaii, after they had previously been found only in the Southern Hemisphere.

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.

Visualizing the 75 largest underwater animals

With so many fish in the sea, which are the largest? This infographic shows fantastic illustrations of the 75 largest sea animals, ranked by average size. The detailed visual is organized in descending order of size, starting with the blue whale,...

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.

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.

An interactive of the deep sea

Take a 3D underwater trip near the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, comprising more than 900 islands and almost 3,000 individual reefs. This video lets you tag along with divers as they explore the reef off the southern coast of Lady Elliot Island in full 3D (use the direction buttons in the upper left of the video, or your keypad).

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.

What we know about the mysterious colossal squid

The colossal squid, the world's largest invertebrate, remained hidden from human discovery until nearly a century ago. Explore the world of the enormous and mysterious creature, including its features, habitat, and scientific significance. You can even plan a visit to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and marvel at a real-life display.

Fly through the deepest image of space ever taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

Taken over 11 days between 2003 and 2004, when the space telescope was aimed at a seemingly empty patch of the sky, the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field revealed about 10,000 sources of light, most of which are entire galaxies. This visualization expands the 2D image into a 3D view spanning 12 billion years.

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

See images of shipwrecks from WWII's Battle of Midway

Deep-sea explorers have captured detailed images of three iconic shipwrecks from World War II's Battle of Midway, including the first up-close photos of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi since its sinking in 1942.

Into the Mariana Trench

Located in the western Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point on Earth. Its lowest point, known as Challenger Deep, is farther down than the height of Mount Everest by more than a mile. This 13-minute video discusses how the trench was formed, and the extreme conditions at the sea floor.

Photographer catches a 'once in a blue moon' shot

A rare "super blue moon" occurred in August 2023, a phenomenon which will not occur again until 2037. Photographer Andrew McCarthy caught a stunning image of the larger-than-normal orb with an ironic twist: a JetBlue flight silhouetted against the...

The world's largest garbage patch, explained

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California. Scientists of The Ocean Cleanup Foundation have conducted the most extensive analysis ever of this area.

A submarine canyon helps produce the biggest ocean waves in the world

Off the shores of Nazaré, Portugal, the canyon is nearly three times as deep as the Grand Canyon in places. This creates a rare convergence of fast and slow swells that erupt into towering walls of water over 100 feet high.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

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.

See photos of a 200-pound Burmese python is captured in Florida

Conservationist Mike Elfenbein and his son, along with three other hunters, captured a massive 198-pound Burmese python in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve in the fall of 2023. See images of the hunters and their prey here.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

As of 2025, China has been awarded the most deep-sea mining contracts by the ISA

The International Seabed Authority—established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—grants 15-year contracts for governments and private companies to legally search for minerals and test seabed mining technologies. China is already the global leader in the processing and refining of critical minerals.

Bluefin tuna, now used in high-end sushi, was once reserved for cat food

Until the ‘70s, the enormous fish were the base for cat food or, at times, thrown into the trash. Now it’s the most expensive fish in the ocean and is a popular topping for nigiri sushi thanks to the abundance of fat in its belly.

Dolphins have doulas too?

For the first time in over a decade, a dolphin gave birth at Brookfield Zoo, and she didn’t do it alone. Right beside her was another dolphin, acting as a doula. Why do dolphins support each other this way? The answer reveals something incredible about how animals care for one another.

‘Jaws’ was the first modern blockbuster

“Jaws” earned $70M in its first month and eventually grossed $476M worldwide, breaking box office records. It would be surpassed two years later by another legendary blockbuster: “Star Wars.”

IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997

After defeating IBM’s Deep Blue in 1996, world champion Garry Kasparov lost their 1997 rematch 3½–2½. The match was a milestone in artificial intelligence, marking the first time a computer beat a reigning world champion.

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.

Visit these 'blue zones,' where people live the longest

Blue zones, a term coined in 2004 by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner, are regions in the world where people live the longest and healthiest lives. Researchers have identified a few key aspects defining the culture of these areas—physical activity, diet, purpose-driven lives, and more. Explore the top five blue zones from across the world here.

View the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded as of 2024

In 1960, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile became the largest in recorded history, leaving about 2 million people homeless. Two of the largest occurred in back-to-back years in Alaska, with 9.2 and 8.7 quakes each generating tsunamis.

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.

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

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

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

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.

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

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

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

Three Ebola species are responsible for most large outbreaks of the disease, yet the only approved Ebola vaccine is known to work against just one of them.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

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

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'