Take an interactive dive and see the animals that populate the oceans, from coral near the surface to shrimp-like organisms near the seafloor.

An interactive of the deep sea

View a gallery of animals found on abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents, seamounts, and other deep-sea habitats.

Explore the deepest parts of the ocean

The deeps of the Earth's oceans are some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Take a trip 36,000 feet to the deepest parts of the sea in this informative, 10-minute animated video.

Take an interactive tour through Australia's Great Barrier Reef, featuring spherical panoramas of marine wildlife, including manta rays, loggerhead turtles, and bottlenose dolphins.

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).

What animals live in the ocean?

The oceans host an incredible diversity of fascinating species. Oceana's Marine Life Encyclopedia beautifully presents facts and photos of ocean animals from Atlantic Cod to Zebra Sharks.

Underwater nighttime photos capture the ocean's diversity

Self-taught photographer Steven Kovacs explores Palm Beach's ocean after sunset, capturing tiny sea creatures in deep waters. Over eight years, he's dived into Florida's eastern coast, drifting from 0 to 100 feet, photographing rarely seen larval fish. Lacking formal marine biology training, Kovacs collaborates globally to identify species like cusk eels and the female blanket octopus, known for its revealing membrane. Check out his photos here.

The 10 most amazing deep sea creatures

In this video, researchers from the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium discuss the most fascinating deep sea creatures, and how they developed some of their strangest features.

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,...

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Can coral live in cold water?

Dive deep beyond the sunlit coral reefs, and you'll discover a world of deep-sea corals. This article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explores the ecosystems of deep-sea corals found way below the water's surface....

Explore a 3D interactive visualization of Neptune, the smallest of the solar system's giant planets.

Track individual sharks around the world in real time.

Over 1 million fish, marine mammals, and invertebrate species depend on coral reefs for habitats, camouflage, and food.

Deep water corals—located throughout the world's ocean basins at depths beyond 200 meters (660 feet)—slowly build small coral gardens in the dark with the help of underwater worms.

Meet siphonophores, breathtaking jellyfish-like organisms

Siphonophores are colonial jelly-like creatures made up of specialized segments that work together as one. They're fairly unknown despite being a significant sea predator. Sink into their strange beauty with this video.

Listen to recordings of different fish species

Scientists have captured and curated this collection of species-specific recordings, helping us gain a deeper understanding of underwater ecosystems. Uncover their sounds, which include a lot of thumps, burps, and grunts.

Most volcanic activity occurs in submarine volcanoes on the seafloor

At divergent plate boundaries in mid-ocean ridges, volcanic activity produces new ocean crust as the seafloor spreads. These areas are home to underwater mountains with extensive biodiversity due to redirecting ocean currents and concentrating food for marine life.

Travel through deep time with this interactive Earth

Explore key moments in Earth’s transformative history as continents drift and climate fluctuates over 4.6 billion years. The Smithsonian presents a series of interactive snapshots of the earth. From its toddler years during the Hadean period, when its surface was mostly molten, to the mostly unidentifiable landmasses of the future earth, 100 million years from now.

Divers capture a blanket octopus unveiling her billowing membrane

In a short clip captured during a blackwater night dive in the Lembeh Strait, a blanket octopus unfolds and displays a colorful web multiple times its original size. The aquatic animal’s iridescent body and tentacles glow against the nighttime...

Watch a diving expedition through the world's longest coral colony, which spans more than a football field and whose exact location is kept secret for its protection.

Watch the destructive force of bottom trawling on marine ecosystems

Bottom trawling is a fishing method where a net is dragged along the seafloor to catch a species of interest. The process produces as much carbon dioxide yearly as global aviation and leaves trails of destruction large enough to be seen in space.

View a collection of images and videos of coral reefs from around the world.

Explore coral reefs in Google's "street view"

Expanding its mission to map the world, Google Maps partnered with The Catlin Seaview Survey to introduce the first-ever underwater panoramas, making oceanic marvels like the Great Barrier Reef accessible to everyone. With Google Maps, the public...

Earth's oceans, which have an average depth of 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles), may be divided into zones based on depth or the abundance of light.

When diving and snorkeling in environments containing reefs, avoid touching reefs, anchoring on them, or using sunscreen with active ingredients harmful to marine life.

View a collection of glass sculptures of corals threatened by fishing and deep-sea mining.

Deep-sea trenches form when one tectonic plate subducts another underwater

Oceanic plates sink when colliding with less dense continental plates, bending the seafloor into steep depressions that can be almost 11 kilometers deep. Many of Earth’s strongest earthquakes occur at these plate boundaries, often featuring volcanic activity.

Starting with red, colorful objects will appear to lose their colors the deeper they are submerged because water scatters light, reducing the amount available to reflect off objects and be observed.

Explore an interactive timeline of Earth's 4.5-billion-year history to visualize shifting landmasses and oceans, view the locations of significant asteroid impacts, and learn about major geological and biological events.

Although an estimated 99.999% of the deep ocean has not been explored, techniques such as sonar have been used to identify the deepest known point in each of Earth's five oceans.

National Geographic presents how to protect the oceans

What can we do to protect and preserve the world's oceans? Be inspired by spectacular wildlife footage from National Geographic while learning key strategies.

Explore the 2025 Ocean Photographer of the Year winners and finalists

The Ocean Photographer of the Year celebrates and advocates for the ocean and its creatures. From tiny 3mm amphipods to hunting orcas, see a collection of images highlighting the beauty of our blue planet.

NASA explores Earth's deepest oceans to prepare for space

By studying extreme environments in Earth's hadal zone—the deepest part of the ocean —NASA tests technologies, probes life under crushing pressure, and gathers clues about potential oceans and possible life on worlds like Europa and Enceladus.

Located in the Pacific Ocean, the Challenger Deep is the deepest point on Earth, extending to depths a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

The Southern Ocean features the Antarctic Circumpolar Current—the largest ocean current on Earth—which encircles Antarctica and creates a unique biogeographical zone.

The deep-sea fangtooth has the largest teeth of any marine species relative to body size

From transparent fish to the heaviest worms on the planet, these seven creepy creatures lurk in the deep sea. Learn all about them and the unique traits that help them survive and hunt.

Scientists discover what looks like an underwater road

Crew aboard the Exploration Vessel Nautilus discvered a “yellow brick road” that looks it leads to Atlantis. Climage change may affect future ocean studies.

38 thought-provoking facts about the ocean

Coral produces its own sunscreen, tsunamis move at 500 miles per hour, one of the loudest sounds ever recorded came from an ice quake, and other interesting facts collected from sources such as National Geographic and NASA.

Explore Amazon rainforest species in this interactive

Explore plant and animal species from different parts of the rainforest, including the canopy, forest floor, and river basin while learning some general facts specific to the Amazon rainforest.

Take a series of virtual tours of Biosphere 2

The videos provide a 360-degree view of the indoor rainforest, ocean ecosystem, Landscape Evolution Observatory, and underground technosphere. A Google Maps Street View option is available to explore additional biomes, with each associated with a different floor level on the bottom right.

MarineTraffic lets you explore a real-time, interactive map tracking the locations of registered ships around the globe.

The warmest waters in the ocean are found at hydrothermal vents—hot springs on the seafloor that discharge plumes of mineral-rich water.

Video and still images are combined with sonar data to create seafloor maps

Sonar works by sending thousands of sound pulses per second towards the seafloor, capturing the strength and timing of the returning echo. This data can accurately reveal depth, seafloor texture, and the presence of fish habitats to millimeter resolutions.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Visual deep dive into the collapse of insects

The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble, with recent research suggesting insect populations are declining at an unprecedented rate. Explore this visual interactive on the issue from Reuters Graphics.

Take a virtual tour of the Royal Research Ship named after David Attenborough

Operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the RRS Sir David Attenborough and its onboard tools and laboratories have investigated the biogeochemical cycles of the Southern Ocean, the stability of Greenland's ice shelves, and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. One of the ship's autonomous underwater vehicles was named Boaty McBoatface based on the results of a naming poll from the Natural Environment Research Council.

Explore a photo gallery of underwater shipwrecks taken by Tobias Friedrich, a German scuba diver specializing in underwater photography.

See how each of the more than 2 million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Watch underwater photosynthesis make water look like champagne

In shallow waters where sunlight can reach, photosynthetic reactions absorb water and dissolved carbon dioxide, producing bubbles of oxygen at the surface of plants. As these bubbles rise to the water's surface, a fizzy appearance is created.