Ocean life

Incredible diversity exists in the ocean, from microscopic organisms to the largest animals on Earth.

WHOI Senior scientist and Director of the Ocean Life Institute Simon Thorrold was tagging whale sharks in the Red Sea with the support of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and reporting back via Facebook. On April 1, Thorrold sent this photo and wrote: "One of the sharks from yesterday was considerably further offshore than we normally see them and in some beautiful blue water that made for a good photo op. This shark also got a GPS tag so we will wait anxiously to see if we hear from the tag in the next few days." (Photo by Simon Thorrold, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Every drop of ocean water holds living things.

Across Earth's history, the ocean has nurtured nearly every form of life that has ever existed. Immerse yourself in the diverse ecosystems around coral reefs, the surprising homes of marine microbes, the migrations of giant marine mammals, and the clues embedded in Environmental DNA.

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Light micrograph of the benthic foraminifer Nonionella stella, which thrives in anoxic sulfidic sediments far below the euphotic zone. Individuals are ~225 microns in diameter. (Image credit: J.M. Bernhard © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Benthic life

Benthic animals live on the sea floor and are typically invertebrates, such as sea anemones, sponges, corals, sea stars, sea urchins, worms, mussels, crabs, and more.

Coral stressors

Stressors can affect organisms living on the reef or they can affect the corals, themselves. When corals die, other organisms must relocate or struggle to survive.

Corals

Many people think of coral as hard, rock-like formations that attract abundant, diverse marine life. In fact, corals are tiny marine animals called polyps that live together in colonies.