Biology
Why Haven’t the Cod Come Back?
A WHOI biologist is analyzing fish scales dating back to the 1930s to unravel changes in the ecosystem of Georges Bank, one the world’s most productive fisheries.
Read MoreAn Ocean Instrument Is Born
Every new ocean instrument goes through growing pains. But the Submersible Incubation Device, nicknamed SID, has been a particularly long time coming. It started more than 30 years ago as…
Read MoreSeabirds Face Risks from Climate Change
The research expedition ended in near-disaster. Stephanie Jenouvrier, aboard the ship Marion Dufresne II, was heading to the Southern Ocean to study seabirds. On Nov. 14, 2012, while making a…
Read MoreMarine Mammals Meet Modern Medicine
Whales do not make the easiest patients, but CT scans, MRIs, ultrasound, hyperbaric chambers, and other medical tools are making it easier to learn about them.
Read MoreCaller IDs for Whales
Imagine extraterrestrials come to Earth, seeking to understand human life. They dangle recording devices beneath the clouds or occasionally tag people with retrievable recorders. They collect thousands of bits of…
Read MoreAcidifying oceans could spell trouble for squid
Acidifying oceans could dramatically impact the world’s squid species, according to a new study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers and just published online in the journal PLOS…
Read MoreTangled Up in Fishing Gear
Study reveals how fishing gear can cause slow death of whales
Using a “patient monitoring” device attached to a whale entangled in fishing gear, scientists showed for the first time how fishing lines changed a whale’s diving and swimming behavior. The…
Read MoreArt Meets Science in a Book called Bloom
When conditions of light and nutrients align in the surface waters of the ocean, tiny single-celled algae called phytoplankton respond with explosive growth and reproduction in a phenomenon known as…
Read MoreNew Robotic Instruments to Provide Real-Time Data on Gulf of Maine Red Tide
A new robotic sensor deployed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Gulf of Maine coastal waters may transform the way red tides or harmful algal blooms (HABs) are monitored…
Read MoreExperts Call for Network to Monitor Marine Biodiversity
A group of oceanographic experts is calling for the establishment of a national network to monitor the diversity of marine life, a key bellwether of ocean and human health. Their…
Read MoreDecoding the Mystery Fish
Few marine animals capture biologists’ imaginations more than the mysterious, almost mythical coelacanth, a 5-foot-long fish that was thought to have gone extinct in the age of dinosaurs—until a live…
Read MoreResearch Enables Fishermen to Harvest Lucrative Shellfish on Georges Bank
Combined research efforts by scientists involved in the Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project, funded by NOAA’s Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, and administered by the…
Read MoreResearchers Issue Forecast for ‘Moderate’ New England Red Tide in 2013
New England is expected to experience a “moderate” red tide this spring and summer, report NOAA-funded scientists studying the toxic algae that cause blooms in the Gulf of Maine. The…
Read MoreThe Synergy Project, Part II
Back in my high school, and maybe yours too, kids naturally separated into cliques—jocks, punks, preppies, hippies, and at the extremes of the mythical left- and right-hemisphere brain spectrum, nerds…
Read MoreThe Synergy Project
Back in my high school, and maybe yours too, kids naturally separated into cliques—jocks, punks, preppies, hippies, and at the extremes of the mythical left- and right-hemisphere brain spectrum, nerds…
Read MoreSeismic Studies Capture Whale Calls
In November 2012, the California Coastal Commission met to consider a request by Pacific Gas and Electric to study a geologic fault that runs along the central California coast just…
Read MoreBacteria Hitchhike on Tiny Marine Life
Amalia Aruda knows that tiny marine creatures have big impacts. Some can kill you. Aruda studies some of the smallest animals in the ocean—barely visible crustaceans called copepods and the…
Read MoreA Day in the Life of a Phytoplankter
Earth’s vast oceans teem with innumerable microscopic plants that make the fertility and abundance of the United States’ Grain Belt look like, well, a drop in the ocean. These tiny…
Read MoreScientists Use Marine Robots to Detect Endangered Whales
Two robots equipped with instruments designed to “listen” for the calls of baleen whales detected nine endangered North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of Maine last month. The robots…
Read MoreStudy Looks at Gray Seal Impact on Beach Water Quality
Scientists from the newly created Northwest Atlantic Seal Research Consortium (NASRC) are using data collected by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to investigate whether seals may impact beach…
Read MoreWHOI Biologist Ketten Named AAAS 2012 Fellow
Darlene Ketten of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an…
Read MoreGenetic Patterns of Deep-Sea Coral Provide Insights into Evolution of Marine Life
The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists.…
Read MoreWhat Is the Sound of 130 Wind Turbines Turning?
Federal officials examined a long list of potential impacts from the nation’s first offshore wind farm, slated to begin construction in Nantucket Sound in 2013: effects on ocean vistas, airplane…
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