Oceanus Online Archive
Testing the Waters and Closing Beaches
On a warm, tranquil evening this summer, Falmouth resident Annette Hynes took a friend down to Wood Neck Beach. It is one of Annette’s favorite local beaches, with a long,…
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Biochemical Warfare on the Reef
Just beneath the tranquil, clear waters of the tropical Caribbean, unseen by all but a few keen-eyed divers, two foes have engaged in a life-and-death struggle every day for thousands…
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Sea Life Is Accumulating Pathogens
An unprecedented survey of seabirds, marine mammals, and sharks on the U.S. East Coast has revealed that marine wildlife contains a wide variety of disease-causing microbes—including many that have developed…
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Deeply Submerged Volcanoes Blow Their Tops
A research team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has uncovered evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions on the Arctic Ocean seafloor almost 2.5 miles deep. Scientists did not think…
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Researchers Successfully Forecast 2008 Red Tide
A research team led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) successfully predicted the widespread harmful algal bloom that materialized this year in New England coastal waters. The forecasting…
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Cytobot Gives Early Red Tide Warning
An automated underwater microscope developed by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) detected an unexpected bloom of toxic algae in the Gulf of Mexico in February 2008. The fortunate…
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For Graduate Student, Research Is a Gas
When you spend 40 days on a ship in the South Atlantic, enduring equipment failures, icebergs, and the occasional surly shipmate, you should at least get to see a few…
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DMS: The Climate Gas You’ve Never Heard Of
For generations of mariners, a tangy, almost sweet odor served as a signal that land was nearby. What sailors called “the smell of the shore” had the opposite meaning to…
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Seabirds Use Their Sense of Smell to Find Food
Until about 40 years ago, people thought birds had no sense of smell. John J. Audubon, the great bird artist and naturalist, had said so in 1826, after conducting experiments…
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Crack! A Lake Atop Greenland Disappears
In late July 2006, a 2.2-square-mile lake atop the Greenland Ice Sheet sprung a leak. Like a draining bathtub, the entire lake emptied from the bottom, sending water through a…
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Antarctic Andrea
The sound of boots crunching on brick-red gravel filled the thin Antarctic air. Three scientists—geologists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)—had been climbing for 30 minutes, staring at their feet…
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Earth, Wind, and Fire in Antarctica
From a windy, isolated camp in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, three scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explore how the waterless, lifeless, volcanic terrain formed and evolved. Read the story…
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Will Climate Change Disrupt the Arctic Ecosystem?
After long, dark winters, sunlight returns to the Bering Sea in spring, re-launching a bountiful food chain that fills the Arctic with life. In March 2008, an ambitious research team,…
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Knorr Skirts Ice to Search for ‘Arctic Haze’
In the late 1950s, pilots flying over the Arctic began having trouble seeing long distances, their vision cut short by a mysterious, reddish-brown fog. What they were seeing is now…
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She’s Got the Whole Fleet in Her Hands
For oceanographers, going to sea isn’t as simple as driving to the dock, climbing on board a ship, and motoring away. The process takes an average of two or more…
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Popular Way to Assess Oil Spills Can Be Misused
Environmental assessment teams increasingly may be using a method to assess oil spill contamination in situations where it doesn’t work well and are in danger of reaching false conclusions, a…
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Pilot Whales the ‘Cheetahs of the Deep Sea’
Scientists tag whales and find they sprint-dive to forage, hunting like undersea cheetahs.
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Can’t Bring Deep-sea Samples Up? Send a Lab Down.
Much of what is surprising about the deep ocean results from the extraordinary conditions found there—frigid temperatures, crushing pressure, unusual chemical and biological processes, and the complete absence of sunlight.…
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The Oceans Feel Impacts from Acid Rain
The release of sulfur and nitrogen into the atmosphere by power plants and agricultural activities is making seawater more acidic, especially in coastal waters, according to a study published September…
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WHOI Scientists Earn Laurels
WHOI geochemist Stanley Hart is the 13th recipient of the Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship, awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for making lasting contributions to the…
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Capital Campaign Heads into Homestretch
With $180 million already committed, the WHOI $200 million Depth of Leadership campaign has reached 90 percent of its goal, heading into its final year. “This is a remarkable achievement,…
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Susan Avery Takes the Helm at WHOI
With the first hints of autumn reaching Woods Hole last October, change of a different sort was in the air. On the same day that Harvard University trumpeted the installation…
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Arctic Voyage Tests New Robots for Ice-covered Oceans
In the summer of 2007, an international team led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution sailed to the Arctic Ocean aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden. Their missions: to test…
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DNA in Shipwrecked Jars Reveals Clues to Ancient World
Scraping inside clay jars recovered from a 2,400-year-old shipwreck, two researchers found DNA fragments that revealed the jars’ long-disappeared probable cargo: oregano, olive oil, and wine. The genetic technique, developed…
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