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Surprising Swarm

Surprising Swarm

During a dive in a manned submersible, researchers studying biodiversity at the Hannibal Bank Seamount came across an unexpected sight—thousands of red crabs in low-oxygen waters swarming like insects just…

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Quest for the Mantle

Quest for the Mantle

For more than half a century, scientists have tried to drill through the Earth’s rocky crust to reach its mantle. WHOI geophysicist Henry Dick, who has dedicated much of his…

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Atlantis Rising

Atlantis Rising

The research vessel Neil Armstrong is by no means the first connection between the exploration of space and the ocean. The nation’s first research vessel, WHOI’s R/V Atlantis, gave its name…

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High Honor

High Honor

In 2011, leaders of Congress presented gold medals to the crewmembers of Apollo 11, the 1969 journey commanded by astronaut Neil Armstrong that culminated with man’s first steps on the…

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Play Time

Play Time

A Pacific white-sided dolphin swims alongside the research vessel Atlantis during an October 2006 cruise off the Oregon coast. Pacific white-sided dolphins and their Atlantic counterparts are known as avid…

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Reef Diversity

Reef Diversity

With their clear water and multi-colored organisms, coral reef ecosystems such as this in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) are an iconic sight. But corals also exist in places…

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Serpentine Style

Serpentine Style

It’s not a miniature serpent—scientists found this glassy planktonic worm in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. A relative of earthworms, it uses its red-tipped swimming paddles to swim through the…

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Welcome to New York

Welcome to New York

In May 1997, the recently launched research vessel R/V Atlantis made its way into New York City during its first year of service. Atlantis continues to be operated by WHOI…

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Drone’s-eye View

Drone's-eye View

WHOI biologist Michael Moore releases a drone from a boat in the Gulf of Corcovado off the southern coast of Chile while a blue whale swims in the distance. In…

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Clues in the Core

Clues in the Core

Sarah Jayne, a guest student from Northeastern University working in the lab of WHOI biochemist Amanda Spivak, breaks down a piece of core sampled from the Kennebec river watershed in…

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Did It Just Pop?

Did It Just Pop?

On what was known as the “Popping Rocks” expedition, a research team led by WHOI geochemist Mark Kurz used the submersible Alvin and the R/V Atlantis to collect samples of…

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Fish Stories

Fish Stories

WHOI’s founding director Henry Bryant Bigelow (1879-1967) was one of the giants of U.S. oceanography. His interests spanned both the ocean’s physical characteristics and the natural history of marine animals,…

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A Warming Arctic

A Warming Arctic

WHOI biologist Cabell Davis photographed this Arctic denizen when he served as principal scientist on the Elysium Artists for the Arctic Expedition in fall 2015. Led by Michael Aw of…

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Arbor Day Oceanography

Arbor Day Oceanography

Keelan Murphy (left), a student at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Mary Lardie, a technician in the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) facility at WHOI, extracted samples from…

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To the Seafloor and Back

To the Seafloor and Back

WHOI geochemist Mark Kurz couldn’t be happier, even after being doused in ice-cold seawater. Though Kurz has worked at WHOI since 1983, this spring he experienced his first Alvin dive…

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Holey Corals

Holey Corals

This coral may look like it was blasted by a shotgun, but these holes are occupied by tiny molluscs that bore into coral skeletons to escape predators. This process, called…

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Collecting Trip

Collecting Trip

WHOI biologist Ann Tarrant collects animals from a Woods Hole, Mass., salt marsh to culture and study in the lab. Tarrant investigates the genes invertebrate animals use to respond to…

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Soul of the Machine

Soul of the Machine

Like cars, even high-tech underwater robots like the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry need periodic maintenance and upgrades. Before Sentry took part in a recent cruise to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to…

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