Ocean Images

A regal slipper lobster (Arctides regalis) patrols a busy coral reef habitat of massive Porites and encrusting Monitpora corals off the coast of Moloka‘i in the main Hawaiian Islands.

Corals are home to millions of species. Humbug dascyllus (Dascyllus aruanus) and multibar goatfish (Parupeneus multifasciatus) are commonly seen in the shallow reefs and lagoons of American Samoa.

A sea anemone surrounded by Pocillopora, Porites, and giant clams at Kingman Reef in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

Close-up shot of a slate pencil urchin (Heterocentrotus mamillatus) at Kingman Reef in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

The coral reef benthic community at Swains Island in American Samoa is dominated by an assemblage of plating Montipora and branching Pocillopora meandrina.

Grey reef sharks and colorful schools of​ ​​anthias in the waters of Jarvis Island, Pacific Remote Island Areas Marine National Monument. Credit: Kelvin Gorospe

Students from Simon Sanchez High School view sedimentation in the Achang Marine Preserve after planting 1,000 acacia seedlings with the Guam Agriculture Department’s Forestry Division during an October 2015 restoration project in the Manell-Geus Habitat Focus Area. In the distance, a sediment plume is visible in the water after a storm.  

The Manell-Geus watershed is a NOAA Habitat Blueprint site located in southern Guam. Habitat Blueprint is focused on improving habitat as a way to improve resilience to climate change impacts. From planting trees to stabilize soil to training people to monitor their coral reef resources, NOAA and Merizo residents are teaming up to support natural resource management to ensure strong fishing traditions and healthy reef habitats exist for years, and generations, to come.

The Geus River in the Manell-Geus watershed Habitat Focus Area is an important cultural, recreational, and subsistence area for many local residents. The area includes the island’s only shallow water lagoon, as well as fringing reefs, mangroves and extensive seagrass beds. It is also home to the coastal village of Merizo, which is well-known for its strong fishing tradition.

Priest Pools is a popular hiking spot for Merizo residents and visitors. It is located in the Manell-Geus watershed, a NOAA Habitat Blueprint site located in southern Guam. The area includes the island’s only shallow water lagoon, as well as fringing reefs, mangroves and extensive seagrass beds. It is also home to the coastal village of Merizo, which is well-known for its strong fishing tradition.

NOAA expanded its Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) to Cleveland, Ohio, to aid navigation on the Cuyahoga River. The Cuyahoga River PORTS® current meter provides critical real time data that helps vessels safely transit iron ore upriver into Cleveland’s lakefront facilities.

A pink whipray (Himantura fai) glides over colonies of the branching coral Stylophora at Swains Island, American Samoa.

In May, the 2016 Northwestern Hawaiian Islands marine debris removal mission came to an end, successfully hauling in 12 tons of debris from Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. A marine debris team of 10 NOAA scientists was part of the removal effort that spanned 32 days cleaning Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Kure Atoll State Wildlife Sanctuary, Lisianski Island, and the French Frigate Shoals. In this image, a Laysan Albatross looks curiously at a pile of disposable cigarette lighters. These were part of the 535 cigarette lighters collected during this year’s mission.

National marine sanctuaries and marine national monuments are places for great diversity of ocean life and this image doesn’t disappoint. Here Bluestripe snapper, Ta’ape, Threespot damselfish, and Oval Chromis damselfish are seen swimming around Lobe coral, Pohaku puna, and Table coral at French Frigate Shoals in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Credit: James Watt/NOAA

Children explore the Rachel Carson Reserve during a field trip with North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve staff. The North Carolina Reserve was established to preserve the fragile natural areas that make up the third largest estuarine system in the country and the variety of life found there. Credit: Emily Woodward

Close up of a crown-of-thorns starfish at Gardner Pinnacles in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

Close up of a Spanish Dancer nudibranch egg ribbon in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

Close up of a sea urchin at the Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

An octopus camouflages itself in corals along the coast of Asuncion Island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

A juvenile threespot damselfish (Dendrogyra cylindrus) nestled in a pillar coral colony in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.  Pillar coral is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.