BE ADVISED: On Saturday 8/30, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will host the USC vs. Missouri State football game. Kickoff is at 4:30 pm. This event will impact traffic, parking, and wayfinding in the area due to street closures. Please consider riding the Metro E (Expo) Line and exiting at USC/Expo station.

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Oceans

Exhibitions

Anglerfish

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Stories

Elongated Violet Snail (Janthina umbilicata)

Rare Purple Snail Lands Here

The shells of a violet-colored sea snail, Janthina janthina, washed up on SoCal beaches recently.

In Hot Water

As the ocean temperature continues to rise, how are the Pacific’s flora and fauna faring, adapting— or not—and how can people help?

Science of SpongeBob: Micro Plastics, Major Problem

Pollution like microplastics is a major problem for our real-life sea creatures behind Bikini Bottom. Find out how you can help with fish expert Dr. Bill Ludt, NHM’s Curator of Ichthyology, and Rory Hu, Nick News Correspondent. Original video from 2023

Woman smiling on the right side of the image, Gary the snail on the right giving a slimy green thumbs up above logos reading 'Our World' and 'Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County'

Science of SpongeBob: Shell Yeah, It's Earth Month!

Gary the Snail has a posse! Discover just how many mollusks are sliming it up out there and what the shell is going on with NHM’s Curator of Malacology Dr. Jann Vendetti. Original video from 2023

A skeletal looking Vinciguerria mabahiss under a microscope and black background

The Lights Below

A new study shines a light on the mechanics of bioluminescence in the rare fish Vinciguerria mabahiss and we explore some of the other fish lighting up the deep

A paleoart rendition of Eupachydiscus sp. by Cullen Townsend.

Collections Staff Help Ammonites Come Out of Their Shells

Uncovering how digitization and collections management made a groundbreaking extinction study come to life

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Marine Biodiversity Center

Most species on Earth are animals, and most animals are invertebrates, so most of the Earth’s astonishing biodiversity is in the invertebrate animals. The Marine Biodiversity Center is the museum’s core facility for the curation of these remarkable animals. Collections come to the museum from a variety of research projects and government agencies.

abalone cove beach southern california daytime

DISCO

An ongoing program at the Natural History Museum aims to develop research and monitoring tools to enormously accelerate our ability to discover and investigate marine invertebrate biodiversity of California’s nearshore waters.

Past Projects

While NHM is not currently working on these projects, they have influenced our current community science projects.

Close up of Polychaetes, black background

Life in the Ocean

Our researchers are devoted to better understanding our coastal communities — both now and in the past — and the thousands of animals that live (or lived) there.