Film ‘Meru’ Brings Mountaineering, Friendship, Persistence to SundanceJanuary 24, 2015 – Last night the highly anticipated film Meru, featuring the ascent by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk—all longtime members of the National Geographic family and grantees—premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film tells the story of the team’s historic first ascent of the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru in the…
Magazine Extras!November 09, 2016 – In this issue of National Geographic Kids, zookeepers teach a giant panda new skills to help him grow up. You'll also meet your shark bestie and learn about the different personalities of these predators. Then see what's cooking at a futuristic restaurant. Plus get a free pull-out poster!
A Tale of Two Aquariums — But Which One’s Better?June 07, 2012 – At the world-famous aquarium in Monterey (where Curious Traveler Shannon Switzer is passing through right about now), jellyfish are the star attractions. Varieties you never imagined existed float silently in tanks flooded in blue light. It’s spectacular. In Atlanta’s aquarium, it’s the whale sharks. You never expected to see these enormous creatures outside a TV documentary, yet there they are in front of you. And they’re amazing. Which one’s better? Or is there a better one out there? Tell us your opinion by leaving a comment!
Magazine Extras!June 20, 2018 – In this issue of National Geographic Kids, meet the incredible red panda. Prepare to be amazed by this acrobat of the forest. Then find out what would go down if some crazy scenarios came true. You'll also get the scoop on which animals come out on top in some surprising matchups. Be sure to enter the Almanac Challenge art contest for a chance to win $500 to help save lions. Plus get a free pull-out poster of a great white shark. And head to the giveaway page from July 10 to 17 for a chance to win a copy of the National Geographic Kids Almanac 2019.
It Came From Basic CableAugust 09, 2013 – On Sunday, Discovery kicked off Shark Week with a hoax. Not content to just play up sharks as serial killers in the annual extravaganza of blood, hokey reenactments, and menacing fins, the basic cable channel did their best at trying to fool viewers into believing that the 50 foot long, hypercarnivorous shark Carcharocles megalodon – […]
MolaApril 04, 2014 – The mola, also called the giant ocean sunfish, is gigantic. In fact, it's the largest of all bony fish. These giant sunfish can grow to weigh as much as 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms). That's almost as much as a small pickup truck. The huge fish may reach a length of 14 feet (4 meters) from face to tail and 10 feet (3 meters) measured from back to stomach. Fish such as sharks and rays are cartilaginous fish—they don't have bones. Some are heavier than the mola. But among fish with bones, called bony fish, none is larger than the mola. The mola has an unusual look. It's round. Its tail fin doesn't grow along with the rest of the fish after the mola hatches. It remains short and rounded, adding to the fish's overall round shape. The short fin is called a clavus. Molas use the clavus to steer as they swim. Molas enjoy sunning themselves at the surface of the ocean. This is why they are also called sunfish. They live in tropical and temperate oceans around the world. People sometimes see their tall dorsal fins poking above the surface of the water as they sun themselves, and mistake them for sharks. When a mola first hatches, it's only one-tenth of an inch long. By the time the fish is fully grown, it gains more than 60 million times its weight from when it hatches. (To compare, you'll probably end up weighing about 30 times what you weighed at birth.) Skin parasites are often a problem for molas. When the fish become infested with parasites, they swim to areas where smaller fish hang out and invite the smaller fish to pick the parasites off as food. When the little fish nibble away at the pesky parasites, they get a meal and they relieve the molas. Another way molas try to get rid of parasites is to leap out of the water and—thwack!—hit the surface of the water hard as they land. They're trying to shake the pests off of their skin. Molas have been known to leap ten feet into the air doing this. Scientists also think that molas spend time sunning to allow gulls to land on the fish and pick off parasites. The fish float on one side as the birds peck them clean. Then the fish flip to the other side so that can be cleaned, too! Jellyfish are a mola's favorite food. They also eat small fish and microscopic plants and animals found in the water. They have small mouths that look somewhat like a bird's beak. To feed, molas repeatedly suck in and spit out whatever they are feeding on. This process tears the food into smaller pieces that the molas can more easily swallow. If you are ever snorkeling in an area where molas are found, don't be surprised if one comes to check you out. They are not dangerous, but they are rather curious. They often approach divers and snorkelers—just to investigate.
Magazine Extras!May 11, 2016 – In the June / July 2016 issue of National Geographic Kids, we're taking a deep dive! In this special ocean issue you'll go on an underwater safari. Explorer Enric Sala describes his adventures at sea and prepares you for the journey. Before you head out, be sure to take this sharks quiz to see how much you know about these apex predators.
Paleo Profile: Spain’s High-Spined HerbivoreJanuary 15, 2016 – Sail backs were all the rage back in the Mesozoic. Some spinosaurs had them, with Spinosaurus itself bearing one of the most ornate of all, as well as the herbivorous Ouranosaurus, the shark-finned Concavenator, and the strange Deinocheirus, among others. And now, thanks to paleontologist José Miguel Gasulla and colleagues, another high-spined dinosaur has joined […]
Can Probiotic Bacteria Save An Endangered Frog?March 18, 2015 – I saw a ghost at the Vancouver Aquarium last summer. I was walking out of a room overlooking the main shark tank when I saw something in a glass cage embedded in the wall, something small, black and yellow. I mean Black and Yellow—colours so intense that you almost expect to turn the creature over […]
Channeling John Muir in Hetch HetchyNovember 13, 2015 – Animals are great. But when I’m hiking, I prefer them at a distance. The sudden appearance of a jumpy marmot in Alberta or a hump-rumped agouti in Belize—even more, a lip-smacking elk on the Oregon coast—freaks me out. Above all, I’m scared of bears, the sharks of the forests. I once clung close behind a shotgun-bearing guide…
Long-Distance Swimmer Diana NyadNovember 13, 2013 – On her fifth attempt, a 64-year-old completes the first swim between the U.S. and Cuba without a shark cage.
OctopusMarch 01, 2014 – Octopuses are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes, and eight long arms. They live in all the world’s oceans but are especially abundant in warm, tropical waters. Octopuses, like their cousin, the squid, are often considered “monsters of the deep,” though some species, or types, occupy relatively shallow waters. Most octopuses stay along the ocean’s floor, although some species are pelagic, which means they live near the water’s surface. Other octopus species live in deep, dark waters, rising from below at dawn and dusk to search for food. Crabs, shrimps, and lobsters rank among their favorite foods, though some can attack larger prey, like sharks. Octopuses typically drop down on their prey from above and, using powerful suctions that line their arms, pull the animal into their mouth. The octopus performs its famous backward swim by blasting water through a muscular tube on the body called a siphon. Octopuses also crawl along the ocean’s floor, tucking their arms into small openings to search for food. Seals, whales, and large fish prey on octopuses. If threatened, octopuses shoot an inky fluid that darkens the water, confusing the aggressor. The octopus can also change to gray, brown, pink, blue, or green to blend in with its surroundings. Octopuses may also change color as a way to communicate with other octopuses. Octopuses are solitary creatures that live alone in dens built from rocks, which the octopus moves into place using its powerful arms. Octopuses sometimes even fashion a rock “door” for their den that pulls closed when the octopus is safely inside.
Greatest Swims: Five Epic Swims in the Wake of Nyad’s FeatSeptember 04, 2013 – In honor of Diana Nyad's swim from Cuba to Florida, here are five great swims from earlier times.
Anteater’s Surprise Pregnancy: Virgin Birth ExplainedMay 24, 2013 – From Komodo dragons to hammerhead sharks, many animals sometimes have to ask an unusual question: Who’s your daddy?
Bone From the Outside InSeptember 16, 2014 – Our skeletons are made of bone. This is a fact so simple as to seem mundane. It’s easy to forget the evolutionary alternatives. We don’t have to look very far afield on the tree of life to see that skeletons needn’t be made of bone. Sharks and rays get along just fine with skeletons made […]
Tapeworms Buried Deep in PrehistoryJanuary 31, 2013 – Parasites have a disturbingly deep history. Many of the sneaky little hitchhikers around today – from feather lice to fungi that control the behavior of ants – have been around for millions and millions of years. Tapeworms, amoebas, and their kind are some of evolution’s greatest success stories. Finding ancient parasites is no easy task, […]