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Studying moving fluids

Studying moving fluids

Physical oceanographer John Whitehead (far right) showed Russian oceanographers M. A. Bogdanov and B. B. Popov around his laboratory during a tour of WHOI in 1973, and explained an experiment…

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Polar Discovery: Bering Sea Ecosystem

Polar Discovery: Bering Sea Ecosystem

The Arctic ecosystem has a unique, complex food web that is fashioned by its distinctive plankton, animal species, and environmental factors. Copepods, like the one above, are a critical link…

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Fishing for an AUV

Fishing for an AUV

Senior scientist Al Plueddemann hooks the handle of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) REMUS so that it can be safely lifted onto the deck during a study of the wintertime…

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End of the rainbow?

End of the rainbow?

Bosun Clindor Cacho admires a rainbow as the Oceanus prepares to dock at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands in November 2008, after a transit across the Atlantic. The ship, scientists,…

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Aloha, Nereus

Aloha, Nereus

After four years of design and construction, one of WHOI’s new deep-sea exploration vehicles, Nereus, took its first plunge in deeper waters during a test cruise in December 2007 off…

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Flying the Spanish flag

Flying the Spanish flag

The WHOI-operated research vessel Oceanus flew the Spanish flag during a stop in the Canary Islands in September, following oceanographic research by WHOI marine biogeochemist Phoebe Lam. (Photo by Alexander Dorsk, Woods…

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After the storm

After the storm

The R/V Oceanus‘ mast is reflected in a puddle of water at Penno’s Wharf in St. George, Bermuda, following a day of torrential rains that delayed the ship’s scheduled departure.…

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Double duty

Double duty

Because ship time is valuable, scientists at sea try to use every possible minute of a cruise, sometimes collecting samples for colleagues ashore during lulls in the shipboard activity. In…

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A surprising return

A surprising return

One of the “pumps” that helps drive the ocean’s global circulation suddenly switched on again last winter for the first time this decade. The “pump” is in the western North…

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Test before using

Test before using

In-port entertainment? A dockside test of a brand-new piece of oceanographic equipment takes place next to a massive cruise ship in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Aboard R/V Oceanus, WHOI…

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Generous gift for seafloor science

Generous gift for seafloor science

Able Seaman Jim McGill guides a multi-corer—resembling a lunar lander—off R/V Oceanus’ deck in the Bahamas in 2006, on a mission to collect tiny seafloor organisms. Multi-corers sample the seafloor…

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Getting into and out of hot water?

Getting into and out of hot water?

As R/V Oceanus Bosun Clindor Cacho (left) watches the oceanographic wire being pulled up out of the water, Alaa Albarakati of King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia (standing), and WHOI researchers…

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“Red sky at morning…”

"Red sky at morning..."

“… sailors take warning.”  The old adage applies as WHOI’s ship R/V Oceanus sits at the dock in St. George, Bermuda one morning in December 2008, just before a big…

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To sample the sea

To sample the sea

Clipboard ready, WHOI physical oceanographer Amy Bower observes while Oceanus bosun Clindor Cacho lowers a Niskin bottle into the Red Sea to collect water. Bower led the October 2008 cruise…

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Real estate underwater

Real estate underwater

Available housing is scarce in the ocean: Any hard surface is soon blanketed, as organisms from many phyla settle on the limited space.  A floating dock at a Smithsonian Tropical…

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One last check

One last check

Engineer John Kemp, of the WHOI Mooring Operations, Engineering, and Field Support Group checks a mooring buoy just before it is deployed in the Red Sea, while engineer Jason Smith…

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A slice through history

A slice through history

Coral skeletons, which incorporate trace chemicals from surrounding seawater, can provide a daily archive of past ocean temperatures and environmental conditions. Using temperature records from this long-lived Bermuda brain coral,…

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How’s the signal?

How's the signal?

Engineer Jason Smith from WHOI’s Upper Ocean Processes Group tests part of the data-transmission system of a new mooring before deployment. The big yellow cylinder on deck to his right…

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Workhorse of the sea

Workhorse of the sea

Built as the world’s first deep-ocean submersible, the human occupied vehicle Alvin can dive as deep as 4,500 meters (almost 3 miles), giving it access to some 63 percent of…

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Pilot on deck

Pilot on deck

The port pilot steps from the pilot boat onto the ship across a gap of churning water, ready to guide the vessel to the dock after the cruise. In this…

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Admirer from afar

Admirer from afar

A brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) checks out the WHOI-operated research vessel Atlantis off the coast of the Galápagos Islands in January 2009. R/V Atlantis and the Alvin submersible were there…

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Peaceful water in a (normally) rocky sea

Peaceful water in a (normally) rocky sea

The Irminger Sea is known for rocky weather, but WHOI research associate Dan Torres found quiet water off the coast of Greenland during an October research cruise aboard the WHOI-operated research vessel Knorr. Buoys…

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