Multimedia Items
Life on an Ocean World
One of the most enduring questions humans have been asking for millennia is, “Are we alone in the Universe?” Now, we may have the opportunity to answer that question within the lifetime of the current human generation.
Read MoreOases in Sea Ice Are Essential to Life in Antarctica
This video explains the key physical, biological and ecological processes in oases on the Antarctic icy coast — polynyas. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Delaware are trying to unveil crucial connections among the physical and biological components in the polynyas and to understand how the Antarctic ecosystem responds to changes in the large-scale environment.
Read MorePerils of Polar Research
Field safety personnel keep a careful eye on potentially dangerous macrofauna (also known as penguins) while WHOI biologist Sam Laney (far right) collects plankton samples at the edge of sea…
Read MoreLife on Ice
Just as a rainstorm in the desert can cause the landscape to explode with wildflowers, the annual sea ice melt can cause phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean to bloom. The…
Read MoreLife on (and under) the ice
WHOI marine biogeochemist Mak Saito snapped this image of two Emperor penguins while working in Antarctica in November 2009. Over the past two years, Saito and his colleagues have shared…
Read MoreFinding life in a harsh place
Scientist Mak Saito scoops up water on a moraine near the Ross Sea, Antarctica, in February 2009. Saito collected cyanobacteria (photosynthetic bacteria) from this polar environment for culture and analysis…
Read MorePolar Slurpee
A plexi-glass reservoir holds orange microbial material slurped up by the vacuum sampler on the towed vehicle Camper, as well as tiny black shards of volcanic glass that covered large…
Read MoreOcean Encounters: Ice!
Insights from frozen frontiers on Earth and beyond Frozen landscapes have captivated imaginations for generations.
But what kinds of life can survive in these harsh environments? What can ice tell us about Earth’s past—and future? And what could we discover by peering beneath the thick, icy surface of ocean worlds elsewhere in our solar system? Join three WHOI researchers as we explore these questions and more!
Read MoreThe Arctic Ocean Ecosystem
Despite the harsh weather and the ice cover, the Arctic Ocean is teeming with life. It has a complex but abundance ecosystem that supports large predators such as walruses, polar…
Read MoreResplendent Coral
Viewed in polarized light and magnified 10 times, this thin-section sample of a skeleton of a Pacific reef-building coral, Acropora gemmifera, looks more like abstract art. The skeleton is made…
Read MoreThere Goes the Neighborhood
A curious penguin observes a group of scientists temporarily squatting on an icy terrain in Antarctica. WHOI scientist Ben Van Mooy (right) is leading a team that will core through…
Read MoreLong Walk on Shrinking Ice
Emperor penguins make long treks to reach their foraging grounds, sometimes up to 75 miles during the winter. However, diminishing sea ice means they may have less success in finding…
Read MoreClearing the Decks
Clearing ice from the decks of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy was a regular task for ship’s crew during a 2011 cruise into the Arctic. WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian…
Read MoreArctic, Top to Bottom
This oceanographic tool— a Van Veen grab sampler—collects seafloor sediments. It’s probably not the first thing you might expect to find on a research cruise led by a physical oceanographer. But…
Read MoreTrapped Under the Ice
In 2007, John Kemp was lowered in a metal basket from the icebreaker Oden to try to retrieve an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Puma visible just beneath Kemp’s long metal pole. Kemp, who heads…
Read MoreBrave New World
The bow of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy plows a path through sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. Evidence of Earth’s changing climate is especially visible in the Arctic,…
Read MoreJar of Jelly
A small jellyfish sits in a beaker in the icebreaker Polarstern‘s shipboard lab. On an expedition in October 2016 to the Arctic Ocean, scientists and engineers from WHOI’s Deep Subergence…
Read MoreStarry Seafloor
Starfish and shrimp graze on a microbial mat on a decaying giant sponge near the summit of Karasik Seamount beneath the Arctic Ocean. The scene was filmed during an expedition in…
Read MoreTo Boldly Go
The hybrid remotely operated vehicle Nereid Under Ice (HROV NUI) returns from a dive to the deck of the icebreaker Polarstern in October of last year. WHOI senior scientist Chris…
Read MoreVince’s Cross
George Vince’s cross is a popular destination for visitors to McMurdo Station, the U.S. research base in Antarctica, and New Zealand’s Scott Base. MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Laura Stevens…
Read MoreScience in All Sizes
Antarctic science comes in all sizes. In 2006 two research ships and an inflatable boat, all carrying scientists, were juxtaposed against the slopes of volcanic Deception Island off Antarctica: the…
Read MoreEndless Summer
On an endless summer day in 2007, WHOI scientists gathered at the gateway to the Arctic Ocean in Longyearbyen (population 1,800), the largest settlement on the Norwegian island of Svalbard,…
Read MoreChanging Arctic
WHOI biologist Cabell Davis served as principal scientist on the Elysium Artists for the Arctic Expedition in fall 2015 led by Michael Aw of the Explorers Club to raise public…
Read MoreUnder the Ice
WHOI engineer Loral O’Hara installs a new shroud over one of the maneuvering thrusters on the Nereid Under Ice (NUI) remotely operated vehicle. NUI is connected to pilots aboard a…
Read More