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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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Into a warm, salty bath

Into a warm, salty bath

In October 2008, researchers from WHOI had an opportunity to investigate an unusual part of the Red Sea where “brines” of hot, salty, mineral-rich water form near the sea floor.…

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Preparing for Hawaii

Preparing for Hawaii

WHOI/MIT Joint Program graduate students Clayton Kunz (foreground) and Chris Murphy (background) test a newly-built SeaBED autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) at the WHOI dock. Developed in Hanumant Singh’s Lab of…

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Shock-resistant skulls

Shock-resistant skulls

Scientists and engineers from WHOI and the U.S. Navy have discovered that sea turtles’ skulls and shells not only protect them from predators but also from extraordinarily powerful underwater shockwaves.…

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Penguin passing zone

Penguin passing zone

In Antarctica, where researchers study penguins, Main Street is a three-lane, 1-kilometer thoroughfare of snow smoothed to an even finish by the trampling of little penguin feet, wrote Hugh Powell…

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Upscale parking spot

Upscale parking spot

At a pier between an immense cruise ship and a luxury yacht at the “Yacht Haven Grande” yacht club in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, R/V Oceanus was “a little…different…from…

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A match made in academia

A match made in academia

In 1968, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announced the creation of a joint program for graduate studies in oceanography. After 40 years together, the…

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It’s a Magic Planet

It's a Magic Planet

WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center Manager Kathy Patterson uses the Magic Planet  projection system to demonstrate global ocean processes to the attendees of the Woods Hole Science and Technology Education…

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Family digs deep in Japan

Family digs deep in Japan

Jon Woodruff, a recent graduate of the MIT/WHOI Joint Program, is interested in ancient bits of grit and shell that he pulls from lagoons and marshes using hollow metal tubes,…

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Danube Delta

Danube Delta

Did a catastrophic flood of biblical proportions drown the shores of the Black Sea 9,500 years ago, wiping out early Neolithic settlements around its perimeter? Liviu Giosan, a geologist in…

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Bering Sea spring

Bering Sea spring

WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian wheels the Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) to the stern of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter and icebreaker Healy in March 2008, preparing to deploy it in…

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Marching toward extinction?

Marching toward extinction?

Emperor penguins (popularized by the 2005 movie “March of the Penguins”) depend on sea ice for their daily lives — it’s where they breed, feed, and molt. These young emperor…

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Seeing double

Seeing double

From a small boat, while scouting for jellyfish, R/V Oceanus Chief Mate Ethan Galac took in views of the 177-foot ship. He and other crew members were helping scientists Larry Madin and Erich Horgan find…

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Flower of the deep

Flower of the deep

The deep ocean is home to hundreds of species with soft, jelly-like tissues. Many of these gelatinous animals are transparent, and many are beautiful. Siphonophores, such as the one pictured,…

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Laboratory and studio

Laboratory and studio

MIT/WHOI Joint Program student Stephanie Waterman was interviewed about her research for an audio slide show produced by Ari Daniel Shapiro, a recent graduate from the Joint Program. Stephanie is…

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Antarctic krill

Antarctic krill

WHOI/MIT Joint Program graduate student Andrew McDonnell captured this image of an Antarctic krill during the first of two month-long cruises off of the West Antarctic Peninsula during the Austral…

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