Featured Project

Hurricane Clues from a Caribbean Blue Hole

July 3, 2019

WHOI researchers Lizzy Soranna (front left), Lizzie Wallace (front right), and Nicole D'Entremont head out to conduct hurricane research in an azure-colored marine sinkhole—formally known as a blue hole—off Caicos Island in the Caribbean. They collected sediment samples from the bottom of the hole to learn more about the characteristics of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm that passed over the area in early September of 2017. (Photo by Rose Palermo, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

Scientists look to sediment cores from Caicos Island to gain insights about a monster, modern-day hurricane.

Mining climate clues from our whaling past

June 25, 2019

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.

Can thermal cameras prevent ship strikes?

June 14, 2019

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.

King Kelp

June 12, 2019

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.

The Power of Super Reefs

May 31, 2019

For the First Annual World Reef Day, dive into this video about Super Reefs—coral reefs across the tropics that are able to withstand the stress of ocean warming, and can breed resilient larvae that can be used to reseed other reefs.

Fish with Flashlights

May 30, 2019

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.

Bringing Light into Darkness

May 15, 2019

Many ocean twilight zone animals have adapted to their dark surroundings with larger-than-normal eyes. (Photo by Paul Caiger, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

WHOI scientists and engineers tackle the challenge of illuminating life in the sunless waters of the ocean twilight zone

Virgin Island Corals in Crisis

May 7, 2019

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.