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How shipwrecks helped a cold-water anemone move south

Researchers find fluffy anemones spreading south via shipwrecks, revealing how artificial reefs and ocean currents connect marine habitats

Aerial of campus Sustainable ocean

WHOI joins Manresa Wilds Project to help restore part of Connecticut’s coastline

Development of a new coastal green space and public park opens up access to ocean science in Long Island Sound

mackerel recipe

Recipe: Roasted peppers with smoked mackerel, mace, and mint

This seafood recipe by chef and author Barton Seaver is a great introduction to sustainable seafood

Emily Peacock Ocean life

Sampling Gulf Stream plankton, one teaspoon at a time

Three questions with marine research technician Emily Peacock

petrels Ocean life

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

water going down the drain Ocean & human lives

Are big spills the main source of ocean oil?

Evidence shows that smaller leaks on land contribute far more oil to our oceans

Sustainable ocean

Reclaiming knowledge from the sea

Jordan Kennedy combines Indigenous knowledge, engineering, and observation to rethink how coastal landscapes are studied and restored. Her work on clam gardens and autonomous mapping systems explores how revitalizing these ancient systems can also reclaim knowledge and relationships between people, place, and practice.

Sunita Williams

3 questions with a former NASA astronaut

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

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

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

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

Oceanus-Covers

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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

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

A Mooring in Iceberg Alley Climate & weather

A Mooring in Iceberg Alley

WHOI scientists knowingly put a mooring in a fjord filled with icebergs near the terminus of a Greeland glacier. But it was their only way to learn if changing ocean conditions might be affecting how fast the glacier flowed into the ocean.

A Drop in the Ocean How the ocean works

A Drop in the Ocean

How can you follow a wisp of water within the turbulent immensity of the ocean?…

Alvin's Fun Facts Ocean tech

Alvin‘s Fun Facts

Here are answers to some of the questions people have asked about the deep-sea research submersible in its first half-century.

Alvin's Animals Ocean tech

Alvin‘s Animals

From orange octopi and furry yeti crabs to the largest known anemone, pilots and scientists diving in the Alvin submersible continue to find amazing marine creatures.

Rebuilding Alvin: Chris German Ocean tech

Rebuilding Alvin: Chris German

From the beginning of 2011 to May 2013, Alvin, the U.S. science community’s only human-occupied submersible…

At 50, Alvin Gets an Extreme Makeover Ocean tech

At 50, Alvin Gets an Extreme Makeover

The deep-sea research submersible Alvin returned to service in March 2014 after undergoing an historic overhaul that significantly enhanced its capabilities.

Bringing Alvin Back on Board Ocean tech

Bringing Alvin Back on Board

Crew members of the research vessel Atlantis play crucial roles in recovering the submersible after its day on the bottom of the ocean.

Happy 50th Birthday, Alvin Ocean & human lives

Happy 50th Birthday, Alvin

Five years before we landed a man on the moon, a stubby submersible was built to take people to the bottom of the ocean. Alvin was commissioned on June 5, 1964.

Trailblazer in the Ocean Ocean & human lives

Trailblazer in the Ocean

On June 5, 1964, a stubby submersible with a not-so-bold name was commissioned on the dock of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, marking the beginning of a new era of deep-sea exploration

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.

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