News & Statements

Statement from the President and Director

WHOI President and Director Susan K. Avery discusses the uncontrolled flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico
May 26, 2010 - the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is offering a multi-disciplinary suite of scientific and technological capabilities based on four decades of experience in oil spill research. Learn more about what we are doing and what we've learned from past spills.

Testimonies and Briefings

September 24, 2010
Testimony to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
John W. Farrington, Interim Dean and Professor, School of Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Scientist Emeritus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

June 15, 2010
Oversight Hearing on “Ocean Science and Data Limits in a Time of Crisis: Do NOAA and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have the Resources to Respond?"
Christopher M. Reddy, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

June 10, 2010
Hearing On "The BP Oil Spill: Human Exposure and Environmental Fate"
Christopher M. Reddy, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist, Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

September 27, 2010
Testimony to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
Richard Camilli, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

May 19, 2010
Testimony on Acoustic Technology for Determining Oil Spill Size
Richard Camilli, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist, Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Press Conferences

Press Conference: August 19, 2010
WHOI researchers presented the results of research conducted in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the research vessel Endeavor to assembled group of reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. .
» View Video (Quicktime)

WHOI News Releases

January 26, 2011
First Study of Dispersants in Gulf Spill Suggests a Prolonged Deepwater Fate
To combat last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, nearly 800,000 gallons of chemical dispersant were injected directly into the oil and gas flow coming out of the wellhead nearly one mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, as scientists begin to assess how well the strategy worked at breaking up oil droplets, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) chemist Elizabeth B. Kujawinski and her colleagues report that a major component of the dispersant itself was contained within an oil-gas-laden plume in the deep ocean and had still not degraded some three months after it was applied.
Source: Media Relations

December 9, 2010
National Deep Submergence Facility Vehicles Assist in Response to Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The U.S. National Deep Submergence Facility has had a growing and important role in the ocean science community’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. With the recent R/V Atlantis/Alvin expedition (Nov. 8 – Dec. 3), now each of the three NDSF vehicles has been employed in the Gulf, to characterize the plume, collect samples, and map and explore the seafloor for signs of the spill’s impact.
Source: Media Relations

December 3, 2010
WHOI Website Will Take Viewers Deep into the Gulf
It may take years before scientists determine the full impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But, utilizing the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry, researchers are about to investigate—and view first-hand—the possible effects of the spill at the bottom of the Gulf. And, from Dec. 6-14, the mission will be relayed to the public as it happens on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) Dive and Discover website (http://divediscover.whoi.edu).
Source: Media Relations

August 19, 2010
WHOI Scientists Map and Confirm Origin of Large, Underwater Hydrocarbon Plume in Gulf
Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) detected and characterized a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The work presents a forensic snapshot of the plume characteristics in June and is reported in a study appearing in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal Science.
Source: Media Relations

June 17, 2010
WHOI Participates in Meeting Aimed at Finding Solutions to Control or Stop Oil Spill
On June 1, 2010, members of the staff of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) participated in a meeting at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., to consider possible alternative solutions to capping or controlling the flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The conclusions and recommendations of the Deep Ocean Task Force, the ad hoc group initiated and convened by director James Cameron, are now available online.
Source: Media Relations

June 23, 2010
WHOI Science Mission to Study Deepwater Horizon Spill Using Mass Spectrometry and AUV Sentry
A multidisciplinary team of investigators from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution embarked June 17 for a twelve-day research effort in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the RV Endeavor, conducting three simultaneous projects funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) “RAPID” program. The projects aim to locate, map, and characterize subsurface oil plumes extending from the Deepwater Horizon well head using novel technology and the latest in biogeochemical techniques.
Source: Media Relations

June 14, 2010
WHOI Joins Consortium to Study, Minimize Effects of Gulf Oil Spill
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is partnering with two Louisiana institutions to determine the myriad impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and to devise and implement possible solutions to the disaster.
Source: Media Relations

In the News

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