Skip to content

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 Sustainable ocean

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
Oceanus-Covers-2023-sm

and get Oceanus delivered to your door twice a year as well as supporting WHOI's mission to further ocean science.

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

Looking for something specific?
We can help you with that. Check out our extensive conglomeration of ocean information.

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

Tracking an Ocean of Ice Atop Greenland How the ocean works

Tracking an Ocean of Ice Atop Greenland

Sarah Das calls herself a “frozen oceanographer.” Most people look at Greenland and see a…

10,000 Earth & Ocean Scientists. Five days. Ocean & human lives

10,000 Earth & Ocean Scientists. Five days.

Over the next week, I will be posting daily reports about what’s happening at the American Geophysical Union fall…

Three Ships and a Sub Ocean tech

Three Ships and a Sub

short stories of ships and vehicles for fall 2005

Action, Camera ... Lights Ocean tech

Action, Camera … Lights

Exploring the sunless seafloor can be like using a flashlight to find something in a dark basement. Now Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists and engineers have built a portable light system to illuminate the depths, essentially transforming areas of the deep sea into a photography studio.

Scientists Find a New Twist in How Squids Swim Ocean life

Scientists Find a New Twist in How Squids Swim

Erik Anderson was vexed by some scientific papers he read during his first year of graduate studies. Engineers had asserted that squids likely propelled themselves through water by creating vortex rings. Anderson begged to differ. Together with Mark Grosenbaugh, he set up a series of experiments to check the theories against some observational evidence.

'Seasonal Pump' Moves Water Between Ocean and Aquifers How the ocean works

‘Seasonal Pump’ Moves Water Between Ocean and Aquifers

Hydrologists Ann Mulligan of WHOI and Holly Michael and Charles Harvey of MIT have cleared up a mystery of why so much salty water emerges from aquifers into the coastal ocean. The researchers discovered a counterintuitive seasonal pumping system at work.

Should Eastern Oysters Be Put on the Endangered List? Sustainable ocean

Should Eastern Oysters Be Put on the Endangered List?

Eastern oysters in Chesapeake Bay were not as happy as clams, and neither was Wolf-Dieter…

Scientific (and Surfing) Safari Ocean life

Scientific (and Surfing) Safari

Eric Montie has a great tan, photos of huge waves taped above his computer, and a…

A Mysterious Disease Is Infecting Northeast Clam Beds Sustainable ocean

A Mysterious Disease Is Infecting Northeast Clam Beds

Scientists follow clues to the mysterious disease that is killing off clams on Cape Cod and along the Eastern Seaboard.

Finding Nemo...and Other Endangered Fish Ocean life

Finding Nemo…and Other Endangered Fish

A novel method to track fish larvae?using tetracycline to tag otoliths, or ear bones?sheds lights on which marine areas to protect

Cold Comfort for Barnacles Ocean life

Cold Comfort for Barnacles

A WHOI research team reports that barnacle larvae can remain frozen up to seven weeks and still revive, settle, and grow to reproduce. The discovery offers a new understanding of barnacle larvae, which are abundant sources of food for larger animals in the coastal ocean. It also provides possible clues to how other intertidal marine invertebrates may settle and survive harsh winters.

Earth Can't Soak Up Excess Fossil Fuel Emissions Indefinitely How the ocean works

Earth Can’t Soak Up Excess Fossil Fuel Emissions Indefinitely

Earth?s land and oceans have been soaking up the excess carbon Earth?s land and oceans have been soaking up the excess carbon dioxide that humans have pumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. But there are limits.
A new-generation computer model indicates that the capacity of land and ocean to absorb and store the heat-trapping greenhouse gas will reach its peak by the end of the century?removing a brake that has been tempering the effects of global warming.

Scroll To Top