Multimedia
Sounding the Bottom
One of the most powerful tools oceanographers use to map the bottom of the ocean is multibeam sonar, which uses sound waves to reveal the outline and surface characteristics of…
Read MoreScience Scaffolding
Dongsha Atoll is a remote coral reef ecosystem in the South China Sea that is about two meters below sea level. With no solid ground from which to work, researchers…
Read MoreMagnetic History
Clindor Cacho, a crewmember on R/V Knorr handles a tag line to steady the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry while recovering the vehicle in 2013 near Barbados. Sentry carried a…
Read MoreRobotic Reef
Katie Shamberger, assistant professor at Texas A&M University, checks the Remote Access Sampler (RAS) on Dongsha Atoll, a coral reef ecosystem in the South China Sea. The RAS is a…
Read MoreA Weighty Moment
WHOI engineer Don Peters, right, and Pat Hickey, former head of the Alvin Operations Group, watched as the newly upgraded submersible was weighed in the WHOI Highbay in January 2013.…
Read MoreBongo Solo
Bongo nets are a staple of biological oceanographers who study zooplankton. Named for their paired construction, the bongo net actually consists of two nets, one with a courser weave to…
Read MoreRoad to Recovery
Crew members of R/V Atlantis prepare to head out in the Avon, a tender boat, to meet the human occupied submersible Alvin after a day-long dive to the seafloor. When…
Read MoreGoing Home
Human occupied vehicle Alvin rests on the surface after a dive to the seafloor as its support ship, R/V Atlantis, stands by to tow it in and bring it back…
Read MoreSub With a View
Alvin pilot Mike Skowronski (center) and pilot-in-training Jefferson Grau (left) peer out onto the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico during the recent Alvin Science Verification Cruise. One of the…
Read MoreReaching For Answers
ROV Jason reaches its manipulator arm into a diffuse hydrothermal flow known as Shrimp Gulley on the Mid Cayman Rise. In January 2012, WHOI geologist Chris German led a team…
Read MoreApply Carefully
WHOI Engineer Rod Catanach positions a block of syntactic foam above the titanium personnel sphere of the Alvin submersible during its recent overhaul and upgrade, which included the addition of…
Read MoreSpecial Deliveries
WHOI research assistant Steve Pike unpacks some of the first water samples collected as part of a citizen-science initiative started by chemist Ken Buesseler to track the spread of radiation…
Read More50 Years Strong
On February 11, WHOI received an award of excellence from the Marine Technology Society (MTS) during the Underwater Intervention conference in New Orleans for 50 years of operating Alvin. The…
Read MoreHot Wired
Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) is a new technique for measuring temperature using fiber optic cable. Researchers from the labs of WHOI scientist Anne Cohen and UC Irvine’s Kristen Davis recently…
Read MoreTank Test
Members of WHOI’s Deep Submergence Lab took the new Nereid Under Ice (nUI) vehicle through tank tests in 2013. The vehicle uses the same fiber optic technology first used in…
Read MoreBleached and Barren
Researchers from the lab of WHOI scientist Anne Cohen are currently working on Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea to study how coral reef ecosystems are affected by internal…
Read MoreFollowing the Bloom
WHOI physical oceanographer Bob Pickart stepped out onto the Arctic sea ice recently to help a team he is leading that is studying massive phytoplankton blooms below the ice. Until…
Read MoreBringing Alvin Back on Board
Come along with Ordinary Seaman Ronnie Whims as he assists in the recovery of submersible Alvin.
Read MoreGoing Down
Diver Peter Leonard, chief mate on research vessel Atlantis, rides Alvin as it is lowered into the water during the sub’s Science Verification Cruise (SVC) in March, 2014. During each…
Read MoreSingular Population
WHOI biologist Hal Caswell works through some modeling equations with his 2008 WHOI Summer Student Fellow Kiva Oken. Caswell recently received the 2014 Mindel C. Sheps Award for his contributions…
Read MoreHappy 50th Alvin! Long may you run
For 50 years, the submersible Alvin has explored the deep, expanding ocean knowledge and inspiring generations. Join us in celebrating this milestone!
Read MorePush to Plankton
To get through heavy ice cover, the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy sometimes has to back up, get a running start, and ram its way forward. During an ongoing cruise…
Read MoreHappy Birthday, Alvin
Since its formal commissioning on June 5, 1964, the human-occupied vehicle Alvin has been probing the world’s oceans, providing an up-close look at hydrothermal vents and other features of the…
Read MoreChecking In
Able-bodied seaman Raul Martinez and SSSG technician Allison Heater prepare the human-occupied vehicle Alvin for a dive during its Science Verification Cruise in March 2014. After communicating with the sub’s…
Read More