Marine mammals
Pilot Whales the ‘Cheetahs of the Deep Sea’
Scientists tag whales and find they sprint-dive to forage, hunting like undersea cheetahs.
WHOI Scientists Earn Laurels
WHOI geochemist Stanley Hart is the 13th recipient of the Arthur L. Day Prize and…
The Sound of Sonar and the Fury about Whale Strandings
Eight years ago, several U.S. Navy destroyers used sonar in the Bahamas during routine training…
Melting Ice Threatens Polar Bears’ Survival
The Department of Interior’s imminent decision on whether to place polar bears on the federally…
Stranded Marine Mammals Stir Tough Decisions
A seal, sick or injured, is found stranded on a beach. What should be done?…
Put the D-tag on the Manatee
When boats hit manatees, the outcome is often grim. Bones are broken and skins sliced.…
Old Whale Oil Tells Tale of New Pollution
It was the scientific equivalent of finding fine wine in an old cask. Analyzing whale…
Eavesdropping on Whales’ Mealtime Conversation
Like a knife slicing through denim, the black dorsal fin broke the surface of the…
Following Whales Up a Creek
Michael Moore is accustomed to working solo (or nearly so) in remote places, but this…
The Deepest Divers
For years, sperm whales and elephant seals were thought to hold world records for holding…
What Does It Take To Break a Whale?
The ship hit the whale with a force that snapped her 14-foot jawbone like a…
WHOI Scientists Provide Congressional Testimony
Susan Humphris, chair of the Geology and Geophysics Department, testified May 4, 2006, before the…
Abandoned Walrus Calves Reported in the Arctic
Researchers on an oceanographic voyage in the Arctic Ocean report, for the first time, baby…
Mass Strandings Keep New Marine Mammal Facility Busy
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s new Marine Research Facility (MRF) opened its doors just in time…
Caught in the Middle of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
In the past few years, several research projects have been halted because of conflicting interpretations…
What Brings the Food that Brings the Whales?
Watching the gray, pitching ocean from the beach in Barrow, Alaska, Carin Ashjian, a biologist…
To Find Whales, Follow Their Food
The average adult right whale consumes about a ton of food a day, eating billions…
Diving into the Right Whale Gene Pool
Like forensic detectives, a multi-institutional team of scientists has followed a thread of DNA from…
Doing the Right Thing for the Right Whale
The situation is urgent: Seventy years after whaling was banned, the North Atlantic right whale…
Scientific (and Surfing) Safari
Eric Montie has a great tan, photos of huge waves taped above his computer, and a…
Big Whale, Big Sharks, Big Stink
A shipping tanker first spotted the whale on Sept. 9 about 24 miles southeast of…
In and Out of Harm’s Way
Just a few more miles or a few more minutes. That’s what scientists and some…
A Whale Expert is Called in to Decipher Odd Elephant Calls
An article about work done by WHOI postdoctoral investigator Stephanie Watwood to analyze atypical sounds…