Ocean Exploration Desktop Wallpaper

Below are a few great images that you can use to spice up your computer desktop. For instructions on how to make the desired wallpaper yours, visit this page .

Monthly wallpaper calendar.

Note that all photos are in the public domain, but we request that any images are credited to NOAA Ocean Exploration if repurposed.

A red dumbo octopus in deep water with ear-like fins against a dark blue background.

Sea Cucumber

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 975 KB).

King Crab

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 869 KB).

Spoonarm Octopus

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.37 MB).

Jellyfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.51 MB).

Squid

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.28 MB).

Crinoids, like the animal shown here, have been around for hundreds of millions of years and are among the oldest fossils on the planet. This crinoid, or sea lily, from the family Bathycrinidae was seen at a depth of 2,180 meters (almost 1.5 miles) on Enrique Seamount just east of the Mariana Trench during the 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

Yellow Sea Lily

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 792 KB).

Ocean Sunfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.0 MB).

Hydroid

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 800 KB).

Corals and Sponges

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.63 MB).

Decorated Warbonnet

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 864 KB).

Carnivorous Sponges

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 864 KB).

These tiny sponges are members of a family of carnivorous demosponges (Cladorhizidae). They were seen along with a scale worm and some brittle stars (look very closely) at a depth of 1,811 meters (1.1 miles) in the Gulf of Alaska during Seascape Alaska 5.

Dinner Plate Jellyfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.08 MB).

This colorful anemone "garden" was seen at a depth of 422 meters (1,385 feet) in southeastern Alaska's Ernest Sound during Seascape Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska 5.

Anemones

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.47 MB).

Glass Squid

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 787 KB).

Goosefish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 828 KB).

Ctenophore

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 502 KB).

Bubblegum Coral

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.1 MB).

Warty Octopus

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 968 KB).

Squat Lobster

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.37 MB).

This tiny hermit crab was seen on a glass sponge (Hyalonema sp.) at a depth of 1,117 meters (3,665 feet) while we were exploring a limestone scarp in the Florida Straits south of the Florida Keys during Windows to the Deep 2021. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2021.

Hermit Crab and Sponge

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 817 KB).

During the Gulf of Mexico 2012 expedition, the team explored this large, stoutly built, and remarkably intact mid to late 19th or early 20th century wooden-hulled sailing ship, which was covered with life. Although deteriorating, the wooden hull was thought to be the best-preserved wooden shipwreck discovered in the Gulf of Mexico to date. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Gulf of Mexico 2012.

Shipwreck

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.6 MB).

Sixgill Sharks

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 887 KB).

Siphonophore

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1 MB).

Anthomastus

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.4 MB).

Squid

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 886 KB).

While we were exploring the seafloor off Puerto Rico during the second expedition of Voyage to the Ridge 2022, we enjoyed the diversity of life seen on this rocky outcrop at a depth of 503 meters (1,650 feet): a number of fish species, including roughies (Gephyroberyx sp.) and alfonsinos (Beryx sp.), anemones, shrimp, sea stars and more.

Fishy Outcrop

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.3 MB).

Seen at 1,169 meters (3,835 feet) in depth southeast of Key West, Florida, during the 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-Sea Exploration, this undescribed carnivorous sponge (Chondrocladia sp.) was estimated to be 60 centimeters (27 inches) tall. Instead of filtering their food from the water like most sponges, carnivorous sponges feed on tiny animals that are swept into their branches by currents.

Carnivorous Sponge

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 398 KB).

This dark ctenophore was seen with its tentacles fully extended at approximately 1,460 meters (4,790 feet) in depth in the western Gulf of Mexico during the Gulf of Mexico 2018 expedition.

Comb Jelly

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 765 KB).

Squat Lobster

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1 MB).

Jellyfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.1 MB).

Whiplash Squid

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 922 KB).

Viperfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 736 KB).

Remotely Operated Vehicle Deep Discoverer

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 736 KB).

Everyone loves a dumbo octopus. We observed this octopod, an Opisthoteuthis agassizii, at a depth of 968 meters (3,176 feet) in the Florida Straits during the 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-Sea Exploration.

Flapjack Devilfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 824 KB).

Sea Spider

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.1 MB).

Basket Star

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.3 MB).

Sponge

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1 MB).

This pink bubblegum coral (an octocoral) being overgrown by yellow zoanthids (hexacorals) was seen while diving on a seamount at a depth of 2,016 meters (6,614 feet) during the 2017 Laulima O Ka Moana: Exploring Deep Monument Waters Around Johnston Atoll expedition.

Coral and Zoanthids

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 840 KB).

Feather Star

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 840 KB).

Sea Cucumber

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.37 MB).

Squat lobster

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.2 MB).

Roughy

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1 MB).

Tube Anemone

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 494 KB).

Jellyfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 494 KB).

Brine Pool

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 356 KB).

Sea Cucumber

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.2 MB).

Cosmic Jellyfish

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 521 KB).

USS Baltimore

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.4 MB).

Dumbo Octopus

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.0 MB).

Iridigorgia

Available downloads:

1920 x 1080 (jpg, 1.1 MB).

Cusk Eel

Available downloads:

Vent Chimney

Available downloads:

Crinoid

Available downloads:

Sponge

Available downloads:

Slimehead

Available downloads:

Grenadier

Available downloads:

Eel

Available downloads:

Snapper

Available downloads:

Glass Sponge

Available downloads:

Large stalked sponge providing a home for crustacean associates.

Sponge and Shrimp

Available downloads:

Close up of a sponge seen while exploring a seamount on the south side of Bank 9, located about 50 nautical miles south of Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

Hermes Atoll Sponge

Available downloads:

Stalked Sponge

Available downloads:

An octopus strikes a pose for the remotely operated vehicle near Shallop Canyon during the Deepwater Canyons 2013 exploration.

Posing Octopus

Available downloads:

Dumbo Octopus

Available downloads:

Octopus seen during NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer 2013 ROV Shakedown and Field Trials in the U.S. Atlantic Canyons.

Atlantic Octopus

Available downloads:

New England Octopus

Available downloads:

Yellow Coral

Available downloads:

Purple Coral

Available downloads:

Crinoid

Available downloads:

Crinoid

Available downloads:

Rhinochimera

Available downloads:

Iridescent Nudibranch

Available downloads:

Soft-bodied nudibranchs use toxic chemicals to protect them from predators. This nudibranch obtains its distasteful compounds from its sponge diet.

Toxic Nudibranch

Available downloads:

Close-up of coral seen during Mid-Cayman Rise expedition in 2011.

Close-up Coral

Available downloads:

Close-up of coral seen during Galapagos Rift expedition in 2011.

Galapagos Coral

Available downloads:

Red Coral

Available downloads:

Close-up view of coral seen during Okeanos Explorer Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts 2014 expedition.

Atlantic Coral

Available downloads:

A flotilla of fish follow a transparent drifting jellyfish, Aurelia aurita.

Transparent Jellyfish

Available downloads:

Copepod

Available downloads:

Octopus, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Northeast U.S. Canyons 2013 Expedition.

Red Octopus

Available downloads:

Octopus, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Gulf of Mexico 2012 Expedition.

Gulf Octopus

Available downloads:

Red Ctenophore

Available downloads:

Seastar

Available downloads:

Red Shrimp

Available downloads:

Red Crinoid

Available downloads:

Swimming Holothurian

Available downloads:

Crab

Available downloads:

Arctic Sky

Available downloads:

Arctic Ice

Available downloads:

Snail

Available downloads:

Anemone, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Mid-Cayman Rise Expedition 2011.

Cayman Anemone

Available downloads:

An octopus drifts by during the Okeanos Explorer Northeast U.S. Canyons 2013 Expedition.

Drifting Octopus

Available downloads:

Underside of a fish seen during the Okeanos Explorer Northeast U.S. Canyons 2013 Expedition.

Fish Underbelly

Available downloads:

An octopus spotted during the Okeanos Explorer 'shakedown' of the new Deep Discoverer remotely operated vehicle off the northeast U.S. coast in June, 2013.

Black & White Octopus I

Available downloads:

Black & White Octopus II

Available downloads:

More Red Coral

Available downloads:

Little Hercules

Available downloads:

Sea Cucumber

Available downloads:

Deep Sea Fish

Available downloads:

RMS Titanic

Available downloads:

Polar Bear

Available downloads:

Gorgonian Forest

Available downloads:

Primnoid Coral

Available downloads:

Octocoral

Available downloads:

Brimstone Pit

Available downloads:

Deep-water Anemone

Available downloads:

Stunning yellow Enallopsammia stony coral with pink Candidella teeming with brittle stars.

Yellow Coral

Available downloads:

Under the Ice

Available downloads:

Brine Lake Octopod

Available downloads:

Deep Red Medusa

Available downloads:

Okeanos Explorer

Available downloads:

Lophelia

Available downloads:

Deep-sea Octocorals

Available downloads:

Purple Soft Coral

Available downloads:

Anemone

Available downloads: