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These seabirds fly toward cyclones, not away from them

New GPS tracking on petrels reveals a surprising survival strategy hidden in the eye of the storm

Sustainable ocean

Reclaiming knowledge from the sea

WHOI’s Jordan Kennedy draws on Indigenous knowledge, engineering, and observation to rethink how we study and restore coastal landscapes

Sunita Williams

3 questions with a former NASA astronaut

WHOI Corporation Member Sunita Williams discusses space exploration, ocean science, and environmental stewardship

Cargo ships and tankers sitting at anchor outside a busy commercial port Ocean life

Ships in the Strait of Hormuz are becoming invasive species breeding grounds

Beneath the waterline of every ship stalled in the Persian Gulf, a thriving underwater city takes shape—barnacles, algae, mussels, sea squirts. Some of those hitchhikers could reach coastlines they’d never find on their own.

Hercules

Is the ocean carbon sink at risk of faltering?

WHOI scientists explain how the ocean mitigates climate change—and could be compromised by it

whale shark and diver Ocean life

3 questions with Cam Braun

Marine biologist Camrin Braun explains why the world’s largest fish visit waters off Cape Cod—and what their epic migrations reveal about a changing ocean

Lori Hepner Ocean tech

Lux in abyssum

Artist Lori Hepner transforms seafloor data into ethereal light paintings

lobster trap Ocean life

Is underwater noise from construction affecting the American Lobster?

WHOI’s Sensory Ecology Lab investigates whether an industrialized soundscape impacts the health of a New England icon

Answers from the Abyss
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Our Ocean. Our Planet. Our Future.

Bosun Oscar Sisson (left) and WHOI engineers Sean Kelley, Mike Skowronski, and Isaac Vandor deploy the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry 
Ocean tech

Exploring Atlantic seeps

AUV Sentry leads the way in mapping and monitoring methane bubbling from the seafloor

Quest was purchased by Shackleton
Ocean tech

A once-in-a-generation dive into polar history

40 years after helping reveal the Titanic, Alvin returns to the North Atlantic to document two other legendary shipwrecks

Eyes on the deep submarine background Ocean tech

Eyes on the deep

How ocean imaging is accelerating the pace of deep-sea discovery

campaign launch event

Campaign for Our Ocean Planet

WHOI launches an audacious fundraising effort for ocean science

Plastic waste entangled beneath the Mediterranean's surface, highlighting marine pollution.

Deep-sea dustbins

The marine debris concentrating in the Northwest Atlantic’s underwater canyons

Hadal Snailfish Ocean life

Squishy survivor

How the snailfish survives the ocean’s most extreme pressures

Mar de Plata canyon Ocean tech

Answers from the abyss

How new discoveries in the deep could change life at the surface

Bathyopsurus-isopod2 Ocean life

A hadal zone mystery solved

An upside-down swimming isopod shows how tightly we are connected to the deep ocean

illustration of weddell seal mother in the water Ocean life

A mother seal dives

Follow a Weddell seal as her body adapts to foraging in deep, frigid waters

Titanic sinking with mummy's tomb Ocean & human lives

A mummy, a myth, and the Titanic

A 1986 handwritten letter to Bob Ballard revisits one of the Titanic disaster’s strangest myths

wave in the ocean Ocean tech

Turning motion into power: Wave energy converters for sustainable ocean monitoring

In the rapidly evolving world of ocean technology, wave energy is emerging as a promising…

Ocean life

The world’s most abundant fish once thrived in an extreme climate

Fossilized teeth show bristlemouth fish evolved during one of the ocean’s hottest periods

Oleander through two rocks Ocean life

How a cargo ship is tracking hidden ocean life in the Atlantic

With funding support from CMA CGM, ocean observations aboard Bermuda Container Line’s M/V Oleander now include a window into microscopic life

Oceanus-Covers

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We can help you with that. Check out our extensive conglomeration of ocean information.

Alvin and the swordfish
Ocean tech

Alvin vs. the swordfish

During a 1967 dive off Florida, a startled swordfish rammed the famed submersible Alvin—lodging its sword in the hull and forcing the crew to abort the mission

The entrance to Room 71. (Photo by Daniel Hentz, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Ocean tech

Inside Room 71: WHOI history in seven artifacts

Some of the technology, art, and gifts that tell the story of the institution’s early days

Allan Hills, Antarctica How the ocean works

A scientist’s quest to find Earth’s oldest ice

After recovering ice that dates back 6 million years, Sarah Shackleton hopes to dig deeper into Earth’s history from a remote Antarctic moraine

spilhause projection How the ocean works

It’s the most ocean-friendly map ever created. Why haven’t more people seen it?

Discover the Spilhaus Projection, a radical world map that reveals Earth as one connected ocean—and reshapes how we see the planet.

Climate & weather

Luxury cruises with a side of climate science

A new partnership gives scientists rare access to remote Antarctic glaciers—and a new way to engage the public

Larry Madin and Kelly Sutherland Ocean life

Tiny drifters, massive impact

How salps shuttle carbon to the deep

Ocean & human lives

The unseen toll of war on science

As the changing climate accelerates the spread of toxic algal blooms in the Arctic, the Russia–Ukraine war is cutting off critical international collaboration needed to understand and protect vulnerable ecosystems and communities.

Climate & weather

The human cost of Brazil’s floods

New research maps social vulnerability after the 2024 deluge

medicine bottles
Ocean & human lives

Healing on the High Seas

A look back at shipboard medicine on R/V Atlantis

Sunset over Cape Cod Bay (photo by Kara Dodge, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Tracking the hidden currents of Cape Cod Bay

Scientists are using drifters and ocean models to better understand how water, nutrients, and pollutants move through the bay

Tiny Jellyfish with a Big Sting Ocean life

Tiny Jellyfish with a Big Sting

Clinging jellyfish in waters near Vladivostok, Russia, are known for their painful, toxic stings. In the U.S., where clinging jellies had been relatively harmless, a new, venomous variety has recently appeared on Cape Cod, Mass., and in nearby regions. WHOI biologist Annette Govindarajan is using genetic techniques to trace their geographic origins.

Ocean Observatories Initiative Ocean tech

Ocean Observatories Initiative

Sailors and scientists have gone to sea for centuries to unravel the inner workings of…

Aqua Incognita Ocean tech

Aqua Incognita

There is a jar of money in the conference room of the Mooring Operations &…

Pinocchio's Nose Ocean tech

Pinocchio’s Nose

It took only a month for the new Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) to reveal insights…

Thinking Global Ocean tech

Thinking Global

The Global Array component of the Ocean Observatories Initiative initially included four remote, high-latitude locations,…

Diving for Data Ocean tech

Diving for Data

It’s the middle of the night on Cape Cod, Mass. Thousands of miles away in…

The Young Woman and the Sea Ocean tech

The Young Woman and the Sea

Meghan Donohue always wanted a career in oceanography. She earned an undergraduate degree in physical…

A Pioneering Vision Ocean tech

A Pioneering Vision

In 2005, scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution devised a revolutionary plan: They would deploy…

Did Dispersants Help During Deepwater Horizon? How the ocean works

Did Dispersants Help During Deepwater Horizon?

In the heat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, U.S. government and industry responders had…

The Marine Reserve Goldilocks Problem Sustainable ocean

The Marine Reserve Goldilocks Problem

To protect coral reefs, governments and conservationists are looking to establish networks of marine reserves,…

Scientists Reveal Secrets of Whales Ocean life

Scientists Reveal Secrets of Whales

Researchers have known for decades that whales create elaborate songs. But a new study has…

In the Gardens of the Queen Ocean life

In the Gardens of the Queen

An unprecedented research cruise investigated one of the most beautiful and unexplored coral reefs in the Caribbean and fostered collaboration between U.S. and Cuban scientists.

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