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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

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

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

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.

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Our Ocean. Our Planet. Our Future.

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

Jane Ruckert, a technical diver Ocean Life

From ruin to reef

What Pacific wrecks are teaching us about coral resilience—and pollution

Ocean Life

One researcher, 15,000 whistles: Inside the effort to decode dolphin communication

Scientists at WHOI analyze thousands of dolphin whistles to explore whether some sounds may function like words

Tatiana Schlossberg Climate & Weather

Remembering Tatiana Schlossberg, a voice for the ocean

Environmental journalist and author Tatiana Schlossberg passed away after battling leukemia on December 30, 2025….

Juli Berwald Ocean Life

As the ocean warms, a science writer looks for coral solutions

Scientist-turned-author Juli Berwald highlights conservation projects to restore coral reefs

A satellite image of Tahaa in French Polynesia Climate & Weather

How an MIT-WHOI student used Google Earth to uncover a river–coral reef connection

Google Earth helps researcher decode how rivers sculpt massive breaks in coral reefs

Ocean Tech

A new underwater robot could help preserve New England’s historic shipwrecks

WHOI’s ResQ ROV to clean up debris in prominent marine heritage sites

WHOI reef solutions field team Ocean Life

Inside the Solomon Islands’ hidden mega coral — a 300-year-old ocean giant

WHOI’s Reef Solutions team journeys to the world’s largest coral colony

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

Climate & Weather

The ocean weather nexus, explained

The vital role of ocean observations in extreme weather forecasting

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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 Sustainable Ocean

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

Whale detection camera Ocean Tech

Whale aware!

New tech and industry partnerships help ships steer clear

ship Ocean & Human Lives

Breakthroughs below the surface

How ocean science is reshaping our world

ocean and swimmer How the Ocean Works

The Ocean (Re)Imagined

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

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

All the Ocean's a Stage Ocean Tech

All the Ocean’s a Stage

“All right, Mr. Brickley, the show begins at two o’clock,” John Kemp announced as he…

What Happened to Deepwater Horizon Oil? How the Ocean Works

What Happened to Deepwater Horizon Oil?

Officials pumped a huge amount of chemicals into the deep ocean during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in an effort to disperse the oil. A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers evidence that the dispersant may helped microbes break down the oil.

New Device Reveals What Ocean Microbes Do How the Ocean Works

New Device Reveals What Ocean Microbes Do

Whether you’re a plant, animal, or even a microbe, you generally can’t conduct the business…

To Track a Sea Turtle Ocean Tech

To Track a Sea Turtle

A WHOI engineer and biologist devise an autonomous system to track and film sea turtles beneath the surface, revealing a turtle’s eye view of the world.

Woman on Board Ocean Tech

Woman on Board

When Meghan Donohue decided to become a mooring technician—a job usually done by men—she knew she would face challenges. Donohue is the first woman to join the Mooring Operations and Engineering Group at WHOI. She is also a new mother. In an interview, she describes some of her experiences working on research cruises and balancing family life with a career at sea.

Warming Ocean Drove Catastrophic Australian Floods How the Ocean Works

Warming Ocean Drove Catastrophic Australian Floods

New research by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution physical oceanographer Caroline Ummenhofer and Australian scientists suggests that long-term warming of the Indian and Pacific Oceans is increasing the risk of heavy rains in the region.

How Would 'On-Call' Buoys Work? Ocean Tech

How Would ‘On-Call’ Buoys Work?

WHOI engineers are developing a new kind of lobster trap buoy that could help keep whales from…

Whale-safe Fishing Gear Ocean Life

Whale-safe Fishing Gear

WHOI engineers are developing a new kind of lobster trap buoy that could help keep whales from getting tangled in fishing gear.

Let There Be Laser Light How the Ocean Works

Let There Be Laser Light

WHOI scientists are developing new sensors using lasers to detect methane, carbon dioxide, and other critical environmental gases in the air and under the ocean.

A Slithery Ocean Mystery How the Ocean Works

A Slithery Ocean Mystery

It’s an enduring mystery: How do tiny eel larvae make their way from the Sargasso Sea to coastal freshwater estuaries where they grow up?

Life Dwells Deep Within Earth's Crust Ocean Life

Life Dwells Deep Within Earth’s Crust

Aboard a drillship in the Indian Ocean, geologists pursued their mission to bore a hole…

Attracted to Magnetics How the Ocean Works

Attracted to Magnetics

Maurice Tivey has probably endured more than a few bad puns, like the one in…

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