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
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
3 questions with a former NASA astronaut
WHOI Corporation Member Sunita Williams discusses space exploration, ocean science, and environmental stewardship
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.
Is the ocean carbon sink at risk of faltering?
WHOI scientists explain how the ocean mitigates climate change—and could be compromised by it
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
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
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Exploring Atlantic seeps
AUV Sentry leads the way in mapping and monitoring methane bubbling from the seafloor
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
A hadal zone mystery solved
An upside-down swimming isopod shows how tightly we are connected to the deep ocean
A mother seal dives
Follow a Weddell seal as her body adapts to foraging in deep, frigid waters
A mummy, a myth, and the Titanic
A 1986 handwritten letter to Bob Ballard revisits one of the Titanic disaster’s strangest myths
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…
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
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
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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
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
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
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.
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
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.
The human cost of Brazil’s floods
New research maps social vulnerability after the 2024 deluge
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
New Air-Launched Devices Help Study Hurricanes
A new breed of autonomous profiling “ALAMO” floats is giving scientists and forecasters a look at the way hurricanes grow or fade as they mix the ocean in their path.
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?
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
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
“Very few women go into engineering,” said Anna Michel, “because girls just don’t get the…
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
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
Much of marine life begins as microscopic larvae—so tiny, delicate, and scattered in hard-to-reach parts…
When the Hunter Became the Hunted
In waters off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) engineers deployed the REMUS…
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?
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.
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.