Carving a Legacy: A Northwest Coast Canoe

During the coming months a traditional ocean-going canoe will be created for display at the new Ocean Hall. Carver Douglas Chilton is at work now in Alaska. A web cam is following his progress.

    Life at the Poles

Most of you know that the Earth’s poles are cold, cold, cold. But did you know that there are hundreds of organisms especially adapted to living in these extremes? Did you know that the communities at the North and South poles are dramatically different from each other?

    Life Underfoot at the Beach

Soft sand, gentle waves, colorful beach glass, seaweed, and scattered shells. Maybe a relaxing place to sit with family and friends, sinking your feet into the warm sand. Does this come to mind when you think of the beach? Well wait until you find out what's lurking beneath your beach blanket! Dive into the microscopic world of life among the grains of beach sand.

    Living Coral Reef Ecosystem

In the Ocean Hall, you'll see fabulous and ferocious fossils, amazing preserved specimens and models, and the latest tools used to explore the ocean depths. But, wait - what's that over there? A quick flash of red, a wavy stripe of blue. It's the Ocean Hall's living model coral reef ecosystem-teeming with life!

    Ocean Today Kiosk

Ocean scientists are continually making new discoveries about the ocean. To keep up with this pace, there are some areas of the exhibit that will be updated as new discoveries are made. None will be more frequently updated than the Ocean Today Kiosk.

    Salmon Shape a Way of Life

You may think of salmon as a good choice for a weekday dinner, or enjoy it smoked and sliced on a bagel. But that salmon on your plate has a long and illustrious history as a subsistence food for indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest. It has a fascinating story – and one you will be able to explore in the Ocean Hall.

    The Science on a Sphere® Experience

Our ocean planet is a sphere, more or less, but so often we see it only on flat maps and graphics. The ocean is a global system that interacts constantly with the atmosphere, but we most often see it as a blue surface on a flat map, and the fact that it is so dynamic isn't conveyed.

    The Variety of Life in the Ocean

The ocean is home to every major form of life: from the tiny to the titanic and from the familiar to the undiscovered. When you enter the National Museum of Natural History Ocean Hall, you'll find yourself looking straight into an awe-inspiring marine biodiversity display.

    The Vertical Ocean

Imagine yourself out in the middle of the ocean at noon with the flat water reflecting sunlight in a thousand directions. That sparkle hides tremendous secrets just beneath its surface. The Open Ocean Gallery will take visitors into the depths. Come explore the ocean's vertical zones – the surface zone, the twilight zone, and the deep ocean.

Windows into the Ocean

When you walk into the hall, you may feel as though you have taken a dive into the depths – largely due to the beautiful, choreographed ocean footage that will surround the upper reaches of the Hall in high-tech video. The film projected on the Hall’s high bay walls above you will transport you into the realm beneath the waves.

The World's Largest Marine Collections

The Smithsonian is often called “the nation's attic” because of its enormous and wide-ranging collections – from Jim Henson's Kermit, to portraits of the presidents, to ancient fossils. The National Museum of Natural History happens to hold the world's largest and most diverse collection of marine specimens.

Asking the Audience

Why will the Ocean Hall be built at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History? You may already know that the Museum attracts nearly six million visitors each year and reaches another 12 million online. What you may not be aware of is that the Smithsonian is also a world-renowned center for marine science, and has been conducting research in the ocean for over 160 years.

Evolution of the Design

The design for the Ocean Hall didn’t happen in one grand design session. Instead, it evolved over time from multiple concepts and exhibits. Join us and watch as we look at the Biodiversity Display exhibit as an example.

How to Build a 50-foot Whale Model

A full scale model of a North Atlantic right whale will dominate the Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History. Constructing a model this big (almost 50 feet long) is no easy feat! By the time it is completed, it will showcase design and biology challenges that had never before been attempted.

How to Build an Ocean Hall

When the Ocean Hall exhibit opens in 2008, it will be the National Museum of Natural History's largest exhibit. With 23,000 square feet of exhibit space, it will provide visitors with a unique and breathtaking introduction to the majesty of the ocean. To provide this experience, the Hall will have taken more than five years of planning, coordination, and construction. Want to learn how it all comes together?

How to Display Marine Specimens

Ocean life comes in all shapes and sizes – and each kind has its own unique display needs. Museum curators and exhibit designers must carefully select how best to display each specimen.

Restoration of the Ocean Hall Space

The Ocean Hall will reside in a grand, historical, newly renovated space. It is one of the museum’s three central halls and it links the museum’s two main entrances – the National Mall and Constitution Avenue.

What Was Left on the Cutting Room Floor

The Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History will be awe-inspiring, exciting and groundbreaking. But even a Hall as large as this one – 25,000 square feet – couldn't hold everything its planners wanted. In order to communicate clear messages about the ocean, create the best visitor experience possible and avoid overloading the content, difficult decisions had to be made at every step of the way.