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The Ocean (Re)Imagined

How expanding our view of the ocean can unlock new possibilities for life

Heidi Sosik Ocean Life

The little big picture

WHOI senior biologist Heidi Sosik on the critical need for long-term ocean datasets

Brian Skerry Ocean Life

Lessons from a lifetime of exploration

Award-winning ocean photographer Brian Skerry shares insights from a career spent around ocean life and science

The ocean weather nexus, explained

The vital role of ocean observations in extreme weather forecasting

blue straws Ocean & Human Lives

Breaking down plastics together

Through a surprising and successful partnership, WHOI and Eastman scientists are reinventing what we throw away

Carl Hartsfield Ocean Tech

Three questions with Carl Hartsfield

Captain Hartsfield, USN retired, discusses the role ocean science plays in our national defense

WHOI marine ecologist Camrin Braun

Hooked on change

Charting a new course for fisheries in a warming world

underwater coral Ocean Life

Reef RX

Using human health protocols to find and aid ailing reefs

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Our Ocean. Our Planet. Our Future.

Whale detection camera
Ocean Tech

Whale aware!

New tech and industry partnerships help ships steer clear

from Tuna

Music for the Ocean

Immersive classical performances to spark global concern for the ocean

ship

Breakthroughs below the surface

How ocean science is reshaping our world

Ocean Life

Body snatchers are on the hunt for mud crabs

WHOI biologist Carolyn Tepolt discusses the biological arms race between a parasite and its host

Ocean Tech

A polar stethoscope

Could the sounds of Antarctica’s ice be a new bellwether for ecosystem health in the South Pole?

blue mud lab Ocean & Human Lives

Secrets from the blue mud

Microbes survive—and thrive—in caustic fluids venting from the seafloor

gwyneth packard

Deep-sea musings

Roboticist Gwyneth Packard on the need for ocean exploration today

Green crab Ocean Life

Top 5 ocean hitchhikers

As humans traveled and traded across the globe, they became unwitting taxis to marine colonizers

Ostrander Climate & Weather

Fires, floods, and forgotten places

Finding home with author Madeline Ostrander

ship Ocean Tech

Following the Polar Code


Crew of R/V Neil Armstrong renew their commitment to Arctic science with advanced polar training


truck Sustainable Ocean

Harnessing the ocean to power transportation

WHOI scientists are part of a team working to turn seaweed into biofuel

morning catch Sustainable Ocean

Casting a wider net

The future of a time-honored fishing tradition in Vietnam, through the eyes of award-winning photographer Thien Nguyen Noc

gold mines

Gold mining’s toxic legacy

Mercury pollution in Colombia’s Amazon threatens the Indigenous way of life

Oceanus-Covers

Looking for something specific?
We can help you with that. Check out our extensive conglomeration of ocean information.

WHOI senior scientist Dennis McGillicuddy holds a jarred Sargassum sample

How do you solve a problem like Sargassum?

An important yet prolific seaweed with massive blooms worries scientists

shells

Ancient seas, future insights

WHOI scientists study the paleo record to understand how the ocean will look in a warmer climate

the landfall Climate & Weather

Rising tides, resilient spirits

As surrounding seas surge, a coastal village prepares for what lies ahead

WHOI biologist Laela Sayigh attaches a suction-cup hydrophone to a dolphin in Sarasota Bay Ocean & Human Lives

Whistle! Chirp! Squeak! What does it mean?

Avatar Alliance Foundation donation helps WHOI researcher decode dolphin communication

We can’t do this alone

For marine chemist Adam Subhas, ocean-climate solutions don’t happen without community

Dickie Edwards in Jaws Ocean Life

Behind the blast

The marine superintendent who blew up Jaws

ID card Ocean Tech

How WHOI helped win World War II

Key innovations that cemented ocean science’s role in national defense

Ghana Ocean & Human Lives

Life at the margins

Scientists investigate the connections between Ghana’s land, air, sea and blue economy through the Ocean Margins Initiative

Elizabeth Spiers
How the Ocean Works

Grits, storms, and cosmic patience

As storms stall liftoff, Europa Clipper Mission Team member Elizabeth Spiers patiently awaits the biggest mission of her life

kelp farming
Ocean Tech

Seeding the future

New WHOI tech lends a hand to kelp farmers

How Do Fish Find Their Way? Ocean Tech

How Do Fish Find Their Way?

An MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student is exploring how tiny larvae hatched in the open ocean find their way to coral reefs where they settle down and live.

Did Dispersants Help Responders Breathe Easier? Ocean & Human Lives

Did Dispersants Help Responders Breathe Easier?

Seven years after the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the decision to inject chemical dispersants into the deep ocean has remained contentious. New evidence reveals an unexpected benefit.

Pop Goes the Seafloor Rock Ocean Tech

Pop Goes the Seafloor Rock

WHOI scientists used the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry to explore a surprising discovery: gas-filled volcanic rocks on the seafloor that “pop” when brought up to the surface.

Girls Just Wanna Be Engineers Ocean Tech

Girls Just Wanna Be Engineers

“Very few women go into engineering,” said Anna Michel, “because girls just don’t get the…

The Hot Spot Below Yellowstone Park How the Ocean Works

The Hot Spot Below Yellowstone Park

WHOI scientist Rob Sohn brought an arsenal of deep-sea technology normally used to explore the seafloor to the bottom of Yellowstone Lake, where a team of researchers investigated the subsurface geothermal activity hidden from view in the national park.

Back to Bikini How the Ocean Works

Back to Bikini

WHOI scientists returned to the Pacific islands of Bikini and Enewetak in 2015 to study radioactive contamination nearly 70 years after the U.S. used the islands for nuclear weapons testing. What they learned could also be applied to a more recent nuclear disaster: the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi reactor meltdown in Japan.

PlankZooka & SUPR-REMUS Ocean Life

PlankZooka & SUPR-REMUS

Much of marine life begins as microscopic larvae—so tiny, delicate, and scattered in hard-to-reach parts…

When the Hunter Became the Hunted Ocean Life

When the Hunter Became the Hunted

In waters off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) engineers deployed the REMUS…

Extreme Climate Climate & Weather

Extreme Climate

Extreme climatic events such as unusually severe storms and droughts can have profound consequences for life both on land and in the ocean. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution climate scientist Caroline Ummenhofer studies the ocean’s role in the global water cycle and its effects on extreme weather and climate.

Fresh Water Below the Seafloor? Ocean & Human Lives

Fresh Water Below the Seafloor?

Using a new method to distinguish fresh water from oil or salt water, scientists are exploring beneath the continental shelf off New England to look for large pockets of trapped fresh water. This water may be continually filling from groundwater flowing from land or, alternatively, may have been left behind by ice ages glaciers.

Ocean & Human Lives

Blue Holes and Hurricanes

Scientists are digging into clues that settle into sinkholes in the seafloor to learn about hurricane patterns in the past and in the future.

Ancient Skeleton Discovered Ocean & Human Lives

Ancient Skeleton Discovered

International researchers discovered a human skeleton during ongoing excavations of a ship that sank around…

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