News Releases
The ocean twilight zone’s role in climate change
A new report from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Twilight Zone (OTZ) project team offers a detailed look at the climate-altering processes that take place within the zone, in particular those that are driven by animals that migrate between the twilight zone and the surface each night to feed. This phenomenon is likely the biggest migration on Earth—yet it remains incredibly vulnerable to human exploitation.
Read MoreEnvironmental DNA is a reliable way to learn about migration from the twilight zone
Woods Hole, MA — The mid-ocean “twilight zone” holds the key to several tantalizing questions about the marine food web and carbon-sequestering capacity of the ocean. But studying this vast […]
Read MoreShark Week 2021: Sharks and the Ocean’s Twilight Zone
How large marine predators use the twilight zone to thrive, and survive
Woods Hole, MA (July 11, 2021) — Sharks are some of the largest fish in the ocean, known as […]
Read MoreUnderwater robot offers new insight into mid-ocean “twilight zone”
Woods Hole, MA (June 16, 2021) — An innovative underwater robot known as Mesobot is providing researchers with deeper insight into the vast mid-ocean region known as the “twilight zone.” […]
Read MoreNew observation network will provide unprecedented, long-term view of life in the ocean twilight zone
A new observation network under development by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will offer round-the-clock data about the ocean twilight zone – a dimly lit region roughly 200–1000 meters (650–3200 feet) below the surface, containing the largest amount of fish biomass on Earth.
Read MoreReport reveals ‘unseen’ human benefits from ocean twilight zone
A new report from researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reveals for the first time the unseen—and somewhat surprising—benefits that people receive from the ocean’s twilight zone. Also known as the “mesopelagic,” this is the ocean layer just beyond the sunlit surface.
Read MoreOcean’s “Twilight Zone” Plays Important Role in Climate Change
A major study has shed new light on the dim layer of the ocean called the “twilight zone”where mysterious processes affect the ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide […]
Read MoreVERTIGO: Carbon Cycling in the Twilight Zone
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and their international colleagues will be at sea off Hawaii in June trying to learn more about the ocean’s ability to store atmospheric carbon […]
Read MoreNew Study Sheds Light on Why Some Animals Dive to The Dark, Deep Sea
Data from over 300 tags on large marine predators, along with shipboard sonar, point to the ecological importance of the ocean’s twilight zone
Read MoreWHOI’s first children’s book “Where the Weird Things Are” now available
By Zoleka Filander and llustrated by Patricia Hooning
Where the Weird Things Are is the first children’s book from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and is inspired by the groundbreaking work of the Ocean Twilight Zone (OTZ) project, and Mesobot, an innovative hybrid robot designed specifically to study life in the ocean twilight zone.
WHOI collaborates to bring video installation to United Nation Headquarters
Vertical Migration by artist group SUPERFLEX will be projected onto the facade of the United Nations’ 505-foot tower in New York, on 21-24 September 2021, coinciding with the 76th General Assembly and Climate Week NYC. The projection seeks to draw global attention to the critical role of the ocean in global climate, a primary focus of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ocean Twilight Zone Project.
Read MoreRemote Learning Takes on New Meaning with the Launch of Dive and Discover ™ Expedition 17
Dive and Discover Expedition 17 will look more closely at the middle of the ocean, also known as the mesopelagic or the ocean’s twilight zone.
Read MoreBlue sharks use eddies for fast track to food
Blue sharks use large, swirling ocean currents, known as eddies, to fast-track their way down to feed in the ocean twilight zone—a layer of the ocean between 200 and 1000 meters deep containing the largest fish biomass on Earth, according to new research by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington (UW).
Read MoreWHOI Among First Funding Recipients of The Audacious Project
What if we explored the ocean’s vast twilight zone, teeming with undiscovered life? Today, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) was awarded $35 million – the largest philanthropic gift in the Institution’s history – to do just that. The award comes from The Audacious Project, a bold new philanthropic collaboration housed at TED to fund critical ideas that have potential to create massive, global change.
Read MoreHow marine predators find food hot spots in open ocean “deserts”
A new study led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory (UW APL) finds that marine predators, such as tunas, billfishes and sharks, aggregate in anticyclonic, clockwise-rotating ocean eddies (mobile, coherent bodies of water). As these anticyclonic eddies move throughout the open ocean, the study suggests that the predators are also moving with them, foraging on the high deep-ocean biomass contained within.
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution leads multi-ship study of northwest Atlantic
Partners from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, University of Rhode Island, to study Ocean Twilight Zone
Woods Hole, Mass. (August 6, 2022) – Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), along […]
Read MoreWHOI-led projects receive UN endorsement as part of Decade of Ocean Science
Four projects led or co-led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists were named on World Ocean Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to receive Endorsed Action status as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s “Ocean Encounters” nominated for Webby Award
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s virtual education series, Ocean Encounters, has been nominated for a People’s Voice Webby Award in the Virtual and Remote – Series, Health and Science category, and was also named an honoree in the Virtual and Remote: Best Series category.
Read MoreWHOI’s Ken Buesseler named Geochemistry Fellow
Dr. Ken Buesseler has been selected as a Geochemistry Fellow by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Wants Everyone to “Keep it Weird”
Campaign raises awareness of the ocean twilight zone by celebrating the “weird” in all of us
Woods Hole, Mass. (May 27, 2021) — Woods […]
Read MoreThe $500 billion question: what’s the value of studying the ocean’s biological carbon pump?
A new study puts an economic value on the benefit of research to improve knowledge of the biological carbon pump and reduce the uncertainty of ocean carbon sequestration estimates.
Read MoreWHOI receives $2.7M from Simons Foundation to study nutrients, microbes that fuel ocean food web
The Simons Foundation has awarded Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists Dan Repeta and Benjamin Van Mooy two grants totaling $2.7 million to study key processes that help […]
Read MoreThe ocean’s ‘biological pump’ captures more carbon than expected
Scientists have long known that the ocean plays an essential role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere, but a new study from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that the efficiency of the ocean’s “biological carbon pump” has been drastically underestimated, with implications for future climate assessments.
Read MoreWHOI president to step down next year
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) President and Director Mark Abbott plans to step down at the end of 2020.
Read More