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Answers from the abyss

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

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…

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

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

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Our Ocean. Our Planet. Our Future.

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

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

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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

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

Rebuilding Alvin: Don Peters Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Don Peters

More than 100 people at WHOI played roles in redesigning and reconstructing the new Alvin. Don Peters, senior engineer, headed the team that reconfigured the sub to accommodate a larger sphere and added weight.

Rebuilding Alvin: Logan Driscoll Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Logan Driscoll

The new Alvin has a new, slightly larger personnel sphere. Still, getting all the necessary equipment to fit inside the sphere took a Herculean effort.

Rebuilding Alvin: Durante & Skowronski Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Durante & Skowronski

The new Alvin has a new, slightly larger personnel sphere. Still, getting all the necessary equipment to fit inside the sphere took a Herculean effort.

Rebuilding Alvin: Bruce Strickrott Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Bruce Strickrott

Now that the newly upgraded Alvin has resumed operations, a pilot and scientist describe how some of the new features of the submersible are changing the way they are using the vehicle.

Rebuilding Alvin: Humphris & Strickrott Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Humphris & Strickrott

Now that the newly upgraded Alvin has resumed operations, a pilot and scientist describe how some of the new features of the submersible are changing the way they are using the vehicle.

Rebuilding Alvin: Anthony Tarantino Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Anthony Tarantino

Anthony Tarantino, assistant project manager for the upgrade, explains the electrical systems in the new Alvin.

Rebuilding Alvin: Rod Catanach Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Rod Catanach

Engineer Rod Catanach describes the fabrication, testing, and installation of the syntactic foam that provides buoyancy for Alvin.

Ready, Set, Dive Ocean Tech

Ready, Set, Dive

Before scientists go to work in the morning at the bottom of the ocean in the submersible Alvin, a team of engineers, pilots, and ship’s crew performs a carefully orchestrated choreography.

Uncovering the Ocean's Biological Pump How the Ocean Works

Uncovering the Ocean’s Biological Pump

Dan Ohnemus clearly remembers the highlight of his fourth-grade class in Bourne, Mass. He and…

Drug Discovery in the Ocean How the Ocean Works

Drug Discovery in the Ocean

WHOI scientists are investigating a wide range of unexplored microbes that produce chemicals with potential…

Cystic Fibrosis Ocean Life

Cystic Fibrosis

Illustration by Eric Taylor, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Rebuilding Alvin: Jonathan Howland Ocean Tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Jonathan Howland

The 25th installment in our series on the people at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who helped design and build the new and improved version of the submersible Alvin.

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