News Releases
Arctic Hydrothermal Vent Site Could Help in Search for Extraterrestrial Life
When scientists discovered a hydrothermal vent site in the Arctic Ocean’s Aurora hydrothermal system in 2014, they did not immediately realize just how exciting their discovery was.
Read MoreNereid Under Ice Vehicle: A Powerful New Tool for Polar Science
Scientists studying the harsh and rapidly changing Arctic environment now have a valuable new tool to advance their work—an innovative robot, designed and built at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) that is changing the way scientists can interact with and observe the polar environment.
Read MoreWHOI Hosts Public Forum and Art Exhibit on Impacts of Climate Change to Polar Animals
No place on the planet is more vulnerable to climate change than the polar regions of the Arctic and the Antarctic. Warming waters and the loss of sea ice are […]
Read MoreGenetic Patterns of Deep-Sea Coral Provide Insights into Evolution of Marine Life
The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists. […]
Read MorePolar Bear-Climate Connection Supported by New Study
Forecasts of polar bear populations and their likely responses to climate change have been strengthened by a new publication that refutes criticisms of the scientific basis for listing the polar […]
Read MorePolar Bear Population Likely to Become Extinct
Within the month, the U.S. government must decide whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. The question is: will such a declaration be too late because of […]
Read MoreStudents, Museum Visitors, and Web Surfers Can Join First Search for Life on the Arctic Ocean Floor
A multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers is conducting the first search for life and hot springs on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. Through the use of the World […]
Read MoreExplorers to Use New Robotic Vehicles to Hunt for Life and Hydrothermal Vents on Arctic Seafloor
Researchers will probe the Gakkel Ridge during expedition that begins on July 1.
Read MoreB12 Is Also an Essential Vitamin for Marine Life
B12an essential vitamin for land-dwelling animals, including humansalso turns out to be an essential ingredient for growing marine plants that are critical to the ocean food web and Earth’s climate, […]
Read MoreLife in Extreme Environments
Scientists have long known of organisms adapted to environments that appear inhosptable to any form of life, living in the 600-700??F waters of hydrothermal vents on the sea fl oor, […]
Read MoreHigh Resolution Imagery Advances the Ability to Monitor Decadal Changes in Emperor Penguin Populations
High resolution satellite imagery and field-based validation surveys have provided the first multi-year time series documenting emperor penguin populations.
Read MoreVitamin B12 adaptability in Antarctic algae has implications for climate change
Woods Hole, Mass. — Vitamin B12 deficiency in people can cause a slew of health problems and even become fatal. Until now, the same deficiencies were thought to impact certain […]
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution partners with zoological facilities to find new ways to study heart rate, respiration in wild animal populations
Baseline data collected in controlled settings offers a glimpse into how researchers might be able to use the technique to study animals in the wild
Read MoreEmperor penguins granted protections under Endangered Species Act
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution among research groups that offer key findings to support federal protection of species, increasingly under siege by climate change
Read MoreMarine Protected Areas in Antarctica should include young emperor penguins, scientists say
Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and European research institutions are calling for better protections for juvenile emperor penguins, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers listing the species under the Endangered Species Act and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) considers expanding the network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean.
Read MoreYawkey Foundation and WHOI present Summer Speaker Series, “Dispatches from an Ocean Planet”
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in partnership with the Yawkey Foundation, proudly presents “Dispatches from an Ocean Planet”, a summer series of film and literature. The series marks the return of WHOI in-person events after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. All events require pre-registration.
Read MoreWHOI Arctic experts present at international climate conference overseas
Experts from WHOI and Woodwell Climate Research Center are on the ground at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, sharing critical perspective on the implications of a warming Arctic
Read MoreStudy Finds Growing Potential for Toxic Algal Blooms in the Alaskan Arctic
A warming Arctic presents potential new threats to humans and marine wildlife in the fast-changing region
Changes in the northern Alaskan Arctic ocean environment have reached a point at which a […]
Read MoreEmperor penguins, recommended as threatened species under Endangered Species Act
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced a proposal to list the emperor penguin as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Elects New Corporation Members
The Board of Trustees of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) elected today six new corporation members at its Fall Joint Meeting of the Board and Corporation.
Read MoreA rapidly changing Arctic
A new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and their international colleagues found that freshwater runoff from rivers and continental shelf sediments are bringing significant quantities of carbon and trace elements into parts of the Arctic Ocean via the Transpolar Drift—a major surface current that moves water from Siberia across the North Pole to the North Atlantic Ocean.
Read More$8.3M award to WHOI extends observational record of critical climate research
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded $8.3 million to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to extend the life of the Overturning in the Sub-polar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) in a key part of Earth’s ocean-climate system.
Read MoreEmperor Penguins’ First Journey to Sea
The paper, published Jan. 17, 2019, in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, also highlights the unique connection between juvenile diving behaviors and a layer of the ocean, known as the thermocline, where warmer surface waters meet cooler deep waters below and where their prey likely gather in groups.
Read MoreFiamma Straneo Selected for Prestigious Sverdrup Lecture
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has chosen Fiamma Straneo, a physical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), to deliver the Sverdrup Lecture at this year’s meeting of the Ocean Sciences section held in New Orleans from February 21-26, 2016. The lecture is one of the highest awards the section bestows on its members.
Read More