News & Insights
After 33 years, Michael Moore is still free to be curious at WHOI
Michael Moore is a senior scientist and director of the Marine Mammal Center at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Read MoreFifty years later, the West Falmouth oil spill yields lasting contributions to remediation efforts
After 175,000 gallons of oil spilled from a barge that ran aground along West Falmouth Harbor, the contaminant has all but disappeared, save a small marsh inlet that continues to serve as a living laboratory for scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Read MoreRapid Response at Sea
As sea ice continues to melt in the Arctic and oil exploration expands in the region, the possibility of an oil spill occurring under ice is higher than ever. To help first responders cope with oil trapped under ice, ocean engineers are developing undersea vehicles that can map oil spills to improve situational awareness and…
Read MoreUnderwater cameras tackle tough questions for fishery
Scientists, in collaboration with commercial fishermen, are using underwater video cameras to document the behavior of seals and other animals in and around fishing nets just east of Cape Cod—an area that has seen steady growth in gray seal populations over the past few years.
Read MorePutting the ‘nuclear coffin’ in perspective
WHOI chemist and marine radioactivity expert shares his thoughts about radioactivity waste leaking from Runit Dome—a bomb crater filled with radioactive soil in the Marshall Islands that is now being penetrated by rising sea levels
Read MoreUnderwater robots swarm the ocean
Researchers test a new, acoustic-based navigation system to solve a problem that oceanographers have grappled with for years—getting multiple underwater robots to monitor the ocean cooperatively in swarm-like fashion.
Read MoreWHOI scientists win awards
Two WHOI scientists were among 82 distinguished scientists to receive accolades from the AGU, and another WHOI scientist was elected an American Meteorological Society (AMS) fellow for 2020.
Read MoreA tunnel to the Twilight Zone
Scientists track hungry blue sharks as they ride swirling currents down to the ocean twilight zone—a layer of the ocean containing the largest fish biomass on Earth
Read MoreA new way of “seeing” offshore wind power cables
Eager to share best practices and technical know-how with the offshore wind sector, WHOI researchers test out an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs)—a staple of oceanographic research—to see if it can perform subsea cable surveys faster and more economically than using large and expensive ships.
Read MoreWHOI Honors the 50th Anniversary of the Moonwalk
50 years ago, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on another world. Today the WHOI research vessel bearing his name carries on the legacy of exploration and discovery. R/V Neil Armstrong: one giant leap for the ocean.
Read MoreWHOI prepares for 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Researchers deploy autonomous underwater vehicles to improve forecasts By Evan Lubofsky | July 18, 2019 Hurricane Florence. Image courtesy of NASA. With the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane season underway, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is prepared to supply important ocean data that can help hurricane forecasters predict the strength of this year’s coming storms. According to…
Read MoreHurricane Clues from a Caribbean Blue Hole
Scientists look to sediment cores from Caicos Island to gain insights about a monster, modern-day hurricane.
Read MoreMining climate clues from our whaling past
Climate scientists work with historians to tap weather records from old New England whaling logbooks. They hope to leverage the historical data to gain new insights into modern-day climate conditions.
Read MoreCan thermal cameras prevent ship strikes?
Researchers are testing the effectiveness of thermal IR cameras for automated whale detection to help prevent ship strikes in the narrow channels of British Columbia’s Gulf Islands.
Read MoreKing Kelp
To help fuel our future energy needs, researchers are sizing up thousands of blades of sugar kelp—a promising source of biofuels—to breed strains that grow larger, heartier, and more abundantly.
Read MoreGlobal Oceans and the Extinction Crisis
WHOI marine biologists Michael Moore and Andrea Bogomolni weigh in on a new United Nations science report suggesting that over one million species are at risk of extinction.
Read MoreFish with Flashlights
Down in the dark and shadowy ocean twilight zone, countless species—bristlemouths, lanternfishes, jellies, and others—rely on bioluminescence for a variety of important functions, including finding their next meal, outsmarting predators, and looking for mates.
Read MoreScientists investigate global spread of stinging jellyfish
New invasions reported in New England and Sweden, prompting researchers to look at a variety of potential causes including transportation, warmer ocean temperatures, and a resurgence of eelgrass.
Read MoreBringing Light into Darkness
WHOI scientists and engineers tackle the challenge of illuminating life in the sunless waters of the ocean twilight zone
Read MoreVirgin Island Corals in Crisis
A coral disease outbreak that wiped out nearly 80% of stony corals between Florida’s Key Biscayne and Key West during the past two years appears to have spread to the U.S. Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.), where reefs that were once vibrant and teeming with life are now left skeleton white in the disease’s wake.
Read MoreUntangling Impacts on Right Whales
Whale scientists look for new ways to mitigate whale entanglements in fishing lines
Read MoreImagining new vehicles for exploration
Andy Bowen is the kind of guy who wakes up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep, because he’s just too excited about a solution he’s just imagined for a new robotic invention.
Read MoreSeal Spy
Drones helps WHOI scientist measure the body mass of mother and pup seals during lactation
Read MoreNavigating the Changing Arctic
New, fully autonomous glider will collect critical-but-scarce ice thickness measurements from below the surface of the Arctic ocean.
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