Benthic Life
Light micrograph of the benthic foraminifer Nonionella stella, which thrives in anoxic sulfidic sediments far below the euphotic zone. Individuals are ~225 microns in diameter. Image credit: J.M. Bernhard.
News & Insights
Imagining Home: scientist’s stay in the Arctic extended by coronavirus
WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian is aboard the icebreaker Polarstern in the Arctic as part of the year-long MOSAiC research expedition. She should be almost home by now. Instead, her stay has been extended by COVID19.
Finding medical answers in the ocean
The test being used to diagnose the novel coronavirus—and other pandemics like AIDS and SARS—was developed with the help of an enzyme isolated from a microbe found in marine hydrothermal vents as well as freshwater hot springs.
Falling in love with foraminifera
A marine geobiologist falls for the ‘brains’ and beauty of an ancient single-celled creature that can change its shell into a variety of geometric shapes.
How do you study marine metamorphosis?
Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser is a marine benthic ecologist, whose primary research focus is on how invertebrates establish themselves along the seafloor.
Seal Spy
Drones helps WHOI scientist measure the body mass of mother and pup seals during lactation
News Releases
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution-led study explores effects of noise on marine life
What happens to marine life when oxygen is scarce?
Epic Arctic Mission Ends
Emperor Penguins’ First Journey to Sea
Are Emperor Penguins Eating Enough?
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WHOI in the News
Exploring the Undiscovered Country: The Deep Ocean
‘Rolls-Royce’ of shark cameras can extend to turtles, whales, seals and squid for ocean’s big picture
Explorer Robert Ballard’s memoir finds shipwrecks and strange life forms in the ocean’s darkest reaches
Maine’s having a lobster boom. A bust may be coming.
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From Oceanus Magazine
On the crumbling edge
The race to ensure protection for the emperor penguin across the world
Waves of inspiration
Rachael Talibart explores the infinite creativity of wave photography
Sniffing out methane in the deep sea
Scientists cruise the Gulf of California’s Guaymas Basin to test out new tech for detecting and measuring methane in the deep
Burrows on the beach
Rebuilding after a hurricane isn’t easy—especially for those pale, stalk-eyed creatures known as ghost crabs
Life at Rock Bottom
This digital photo essay brings you the forms, figures, and facts of life more than a mile and half deep
Features
Ocean ecosystems are found in polar regions, coastal waters, coral reefs, hydrothermal vents, the abyssal plain, and at the bottom…
By human standards, they are extreme environments. Yet life not only persists in the poles...it thrives.
Hydrothermal vents and cold seeps are places where chemical-rich fluids emanate from the seafloor, often providing the energy to sustain…
The narrow region where land and ocean meet includes salt marshes, mangroves, wetlands, estuaries, reefs, and bays often linked in…
Coastal Ecosystems 
Life at Vents & Seeps 
Polar Life 
