The Ocean (Re)Imagined
How expanding our view of the ocean can unlock new possibilities for 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
A polar stethoscope
Could the sounds of Antarctica’s ice be a new bellwether for ecosystem health in the South Pole?
Secrets from the blue mud
Microbes survive—and thrive—in caustic fluids venting from the seafloor
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Our Ocean. Our Planet. Our Future.
Top 5 ocean hitchhikers
As humans traveled and traded across the globe, they became unwitting taxis to marine colonizers
Following the Polar Code
Crew of R/V Neil Armstrong renew their commitment to Arctic science with advanced polar training
Harnessing the ocean to power transportation
WHOI scientists are part of a team working to turn seaweed into biofuel
Casting a wider net
The future of a time-honored fishing tradition in Vietnam, through the eyes of award-winning photographer Thien Nguyen Noc
Gold mining’s toxic legacy
Mercury pollution in Colombia’s Amazon threatens the Indigenous way of life
How do you solve a problem like Sargassum?
An important yet prolific seaweed with massive blooms worries scientists
Ancient seas, future insights
WHOI scientists study the paleo record to understand how the ocean will look in a warmer climate
Rising tides, resilient spirits
As surrounding seas surge, a coastal village prepares for what lies ahead
Whistle! Chirp! Squeak! What does it mean?
Avatar Alliance Foundation donation helps WHOI researcher decode dolphin communication
We can’t do this alone
For marine chemist Adam Subhas, ocean-climate solutions don’t happen without community
How WHOI helped win World War II
Key innovations that cemented ocean science’s role in national defense
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Life at the margins
Scientists investigate the connections between Ghana’s land, air, sea and blue economy through the Ocean Margins Initiative
Grits, storms, and cosmic patience
As storms stall liftoff, Europa Clipper Mission Team member Elizabeth Spiers patiently awaits the biggest mission of her life
New underwater vehicles in development at WHOI
New vehicles will be modeled after WHOI’s iconic remotely operated vehicle, Jason
Learning to see through cloudy waters
How MIT-WHOI student Amy Phung is helping robots accomplish dangerous tasks in murky waters
A rare black seadevil anglerfish sees the light
A viral video shows a denizen of the ocean’s twilight zone making an unusual trip to the surface
Unseen Ocean
Artist Janine Wong and scientist Jing He capture the art of currents in “Submesoscale Soup”
Five marine animals that call shipwrecks home
One man’s sunken ship is another fish’s home? Learn about five species that have evolved to thrive on sunken vessels
Deep-sea amphipod name inspired by literary masterpiece
Name pays tribute to Cervantes’ Don Quixote and reinforces themes of sweetness and beauty
Mid-Atlantic Ridge Volcanic Processes
Long before the plate-tectonic revolution began in the 1960s, scientists envisioned drilling into the ocean crust to investigate Earth’s evolution.
Indian Ocean’s Atlantis Bank Yields Deep-Earth Insight
I never imagined I would spend six weeks of my life “wandering around” the seafloor exploring an 11 million year old beach, and it never occurred to me to look for a fossil island. But that’s what I did, and that’s what we found on two research voyages separated by more than a decade.
Melt Extraction from the Mantle Beneath Mid-Ocean Ridges
As the oceanic plates move apart at mid-ocean ridges, rocks from Earth’s mantle, far below, rise to fill the void, mostly via slow plastic flow.
Exploring The Global Mid-Ocean Ridge
There is a natural tendency in scientific investigations for increased specialization. Most important advances are made by narrowing focus and building on the broad foundation of earlier, more general research.
Discovery of “Megamullions” Reveals Gateways Into the Ocean Crust and Upper Mantle
urposes. From the end of the nineteenth into the first half of the twentieth century, drilling was used to penetrate the reef and uppermost volcanic foundation of several oceanic islands, and these glimpses of oceanic geology whetted the scientific community’s appetite for deeper and more complete data.
Ocean Seismic Network Seafloor Observatories
Our knowledge of the physical characteristics of Earth’s deep interior is based largely on observations of surface vibrations that occur after large earthquakes. Using the same techniques as CAT (Computer Aided Tomography) scans in medical imaging, seismologists can “image” the interior of our planet. But just as medical imaging requires sensors that surround the patient, seismic imaging requires sensors surrounding the earth.
The Women of FAMOUS
My FAMOUS story begins during my first year in graduate school at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.
A Current Affair
oal of probing the earth’s inaccessible deep interior. But the technique remains something of a mystery even to many marine scientists. It has been used widely on land, particularly for regional-scale surveys, but only a few full-scale MT surveys have been carried out on the seafloor.
The Oceanic Flux Program
The predawn hours at sea have a unique feel—an eerie stillness, regardless of weather. This morning is no exception as the Bermuda Biological Station’s R/V Weatherbird II approaches the OFP (Oceanic Flux Program) sediment trap mooring some 75 kilometers southeast of Bermuda.
Marine Snow and Fecal Pellets
Until about 130 years ago, scholars believed that no life could exist in the deep ocean. The abyss was simply too dark and cold to sustain life. The discovery of many animals living in the abyssal environment by Sir Charles Wyville Thompson during HMS Challenger’s 1872-1876 circumnavigation stunned the late 19th century scientific community far more than we can now imagine.
Extreme Trapping
One of oceanography’s major challenges is collection of data from extraordinarily difficult environments. For those who use sediments traps, two examples of difficult environments are the deepest oceans and the permanently ice-covered Arctic Basin.
The Rain of Ocean Particles and Earth’s Carbon Cycle
WHOI Phytoplankton photosynthesis has provided Earth’s inhabitants with oxygen since early life began. Without this process the atmosphere would consist of carbon dioxide (CO2) plus a small amount of nitrogen, the atmospheric pressure would be 60 times higher than the air we breathe, and the planet’s air temperatures would hover around 300°C. (Conditions similar to these are found on Earth’s close sibling Venus.