Ocean Life
Microbes That ‘Eat’ Natural Gas
In the quest to explore the remarkable diversity of microbial life on Earth, an international team of scientists has identified marine bacteria that can “eat” butane and propane in natural…
Old Whale Oil Tells Tale of New Pollution
It was the scientific equivalent of finding fine wine in an old cask. Analyzing whale…
Pilot Study Examines Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
It is one of the most common illnesses from eating seafood, sickening more than 50,000…
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…
Growing Marine Plants Need Their Vitamins
Your mother was right: You need your vitamins. And that turns out to be true…
Still Toxic After All These Years
This is a story about persistence—of oil, and of people. It began in 1969 when…
Cell-sized Thermometers
Climate shifts are a repeating feature in Earth’s history, but humans have added so much…
Dead Corals Do Tell Tales
Sometime around the beginning of the 17th century, a tiny drifting larva found the perfect…
Would a Hagfish By Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?
It’s not hard to figure out how hagfish got their name, since they aren’t exactly…
Deep-sea Tubeworms Get Versatile ‘Inside’ Help
Cross sections of the tubeworm Riftia pachyptila. (Courtesy of Enduring Resources for Earth Science Education)…
Ocean Circulation and a Clam Far From Home
In my first year of graduate school, I was stumped by a big question on…
What Other Tales Can Coral Skeletons Tell?
In 2003, we traveled by ship to the New England Seamounts—a chain of extinct, undersea…
The Coral-Climate Connection
Are the climate changes we perceive today just part of the Earth system’s natural variability,…
WHOI Scientists Provide Congressional Testimony
Susan Humphris, chair of the Geology and Geophysics Department, testified May 4, 2006, before the…
The Oceans Are Filled with Microbes. Some Are Nasty
Every time you swim at the beach, you are surrounded by zillions of bacteria. There…
Legions of Legionella Bacteria
Salty ocean water can be a nuisance. It’s undrinkable and it corrodes nearly everything it…
New ‘Eyes’ Size Up Scallop Populations
Part of the fun of fishing is never knowing exactly what might be swimming around…
Lullaby for Larvae
Like many babies, these tiny offspring arrived this spring amid much fanfare and a little…
Ocean Microscope Reveals Surprising Abundance of Life
Towing an underwater video microscope across the Atlantic Ocean, two scientists found unexpected abundances of…
Voyage Takes a Census of Life in the Sea
Scientists collected more than 1,000 shrimplike creatures, swimming snails and worms, and gelatinous animals, including…