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A Drop in the Ocean is Teeming with Life

A Drop in the Ocean is Teeming with Life

“The universe is made of stories …“ —Muriel Rukeyser There are countless stories in every drop of seawater. But with a cast of millions and more plotlines than a daytime…

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Every Chromatogram Tells a Story

Every Chromatogram Tells a Story

Where is this mountainous landscape? Actually, that’s the wrong question. It’s a landscape, all right, but it’s a chemical landscape: You’re looking at oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Each…

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Cape-Able Workers Build Deep-Sea Devices

Cape-Able Workers Build Deep-Sea Devices

In 2009 Rob Evans knew he had a laborious task coming. He needed to build 120complicated and delicate silver chloride electrodes for deep-sea instruments. He also wanted to change the…

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Where Will We Get Our Seafood?

Where Will We Get Our Seafood?

By 2030 or 2040, most seafood bought by Americans will be raised on a farm, not caught by fishermen. And, unless policies governing aquaculture in the United States change, the…

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Psychotherapy for Plankton

Psychotherapy for Plankton

The scene: A diatom is out of its oceanic habitat and on a couch, talking to a therapist. The diatom is stressed. It can’t ever seem to get enough nutrients.…

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Up From the Seafloor Came a Bubbling Brew

Up From the Seafloor Came a Bubbling Brew

Eleven days after the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010, representatives from BP called Andy Bowen at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). “It had become…

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Shifting Sands and Bacteria on the Beach

Shifting Sands and Bacteria on the Beach

Most coastal communities in the United States test the water at beaches for the presence of bacteria. But they don’t routinely test the sand. Does sand also harbor bacteria? Until…

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The Ghost Mooring

The Ghost Mooring

Just before leaving for a long-awaited vacation, Scott Worrilow came in to work on a Monday morning in April 2011, just for a few minutes, to do a routine daily…

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Of Predators, Prey, and Petroleum

Of Predators, Prey, and Petroleum

Protists are the Rodney Dangerfields of marine microbes. Although marine bacteria emerged as heroes in the Deepwater Horizon affair, gobbling up vast amounts of spilled oil and gas, few people…

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Once More Unto the Rift

Once More Unto the Rift

In the beginning, there was the Garden of Eden. It was a lush primordial oasis of life, bursting with exotic life forms. Now, scientists have embarked on a research expedition…

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Scientific Diving: The Benefits of Being There

Scientific Diving: The Benefits of Being There

<!– “Shallow Water Diving: the benefits of being there” spotlights researchers using scuba in shallow water. These scientists, working on coral reefs, fish ecology, or seafloor topography, require uninterrupted lengths…

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A Long Voyage to Get a New Ship

A Long Voyage to Get a New Ship

On a cold, blustery day in April 1997, hundreds of people swarmed Iselin Dock at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to welcome Atlantis into the nation’s oceanographic research fleet. Politicians…

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All the Pretty Jellyfish

All the Pretty Jellyfish

<!– –> Pat Lohmann recently traveled to the tiny Western Pacific island nation of Palau to locate coral reefs with Anne Cohen, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).…

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Another Piece in the Arctic Puzzle

Another Piece in the Arctic Puzzle

It’s spring again, and while most of us are putting away our winter coats and watching our flowers pop up, it’s time for Rick Krishfield and Kris Newhall to don…

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Life and Death in the Deep Sea

Life and Death in the Deep Sea

It was an experiment they hoped would never happen. But when it did, they were poised to respond. In 2008, a multi-institutional team of researchers launched a long-term study to…

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