Snorkeling with smooth hammerheads in the Azores takes patience, but the wait is worth it when these shy sharks come out to play.
Marine Species
Beneath the waves lies a wonderland — Southern California sea life inhabits a magical realm, including forests, canyons and caves. Here are some highlights.
A master of camouflage, there is much more to the scorpionfish than meets the eye.
It’s got one of the (arguably) weirdest faces in the ocean, and the hammerhead shark is on nearly every diver’s bucket list.
Touching seahorses to manipulate them for pictures (and using a strong flash) is a big no-no, as it causes the animals much stress.
The nautilus is a living fossil, unchanged for hundreds of millions of years. Although divers see them infrequently, they are most common in the tropical western Pacific.
With impressive teeth and vibrant colors, titan triggerfish are the biggest among the species. And although they’re beautiful, divers should beware of this territorial fish.
Most corals are colonial animals with hundreds to thousands of tiny polyps, but solitary corals of the Indo-Pacific are a single-polyp species that lives freely on the ocean floor.
Octopus are one of the ocean’s most intelligent animals, and while it’s hard to pick favorites, here are the five species we most want to see on a dive.
Meandering corals are often called brain corals because they form round colonies resembling brains. Learn how to tell them apart with our guide here.
Entire identification books are dedicated to the rainbow-colored nudibranch. Here are some quick facts about these diver favorites.
With their flowing texture and bright colors, it’s easy to mistake large polyp corals of the Indo-Pacific for soft corals. Here’s how to identify them.
An all-time divers’ favorite, there are seven different species of sea turtles. Here’s what you need to know about each species.
I Love Lucy: Check out this cool film by the Beacons Collective, shot in Guadalupe, Mexico in 2018 and featuring some enormous (one in particular) great white sharks.
Biologist and veterinarian Dr. Claire Petros is on a mission to save the Maldives’ sea turtles and explains why we need hospitals, not hatcheries.
The sardine run along the South African coast is one of the largest marine-life migrations on earth. Here’s all you need to know about this extraordinary event.
Bearing a strong resemblance to rays thanks to their flat bodies and broad pectoral fins, angelsharks are easily spotted on dives in the Canary Islands.
Every year between May and July, giant Australian cuttlefish aggregate by the thousands in South Australia. It’s one giant orgy — and a spectacular sight to see.