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News Releases


What did scientists learn from Deepwater Horizon?

Ten years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion caused the largest accidental marine oil spill in history, WHOI marine geochemists Elizabeth Kujawinski and Christopher Reddy review what they— and their science colleagues from around the world—have learned.

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A rapidly changing Arctic

Healy, Polarstern

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.

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The ocean’s ‘biological pump’ captures more carbon than expected

Buesseler sediment trap

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.

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For now, river deltas gain land worldwide

Delta areas worldwide have gained land in the past 30 years, despite river damming. However, recent land gains are unlikely to last throughout the 21st century due to expected, accelerated sea-level rise.

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Report 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.

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Study weighs deep-sea mining’s impact on microbes

The essential roles that microbes play in deep-sea ecosystems are at risk from the potential environmental impacts of mining, according to a new paper. The study reviews what is known about microbes in these environments and assesses how mining could impact their important environmental roles.

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How microbes reflect the health of coral reefs

A collaborative study compared seawater from 25 reefs in Cuba and the U.S. Florida Keys varying in human impact and protection, and found that those with higher microbial diversity and lower concentrations of nutrients and organic carbon—primarily caused by human activities—were markedly healthier.

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WHOI’s economic impacts are far-reaching

research vessel neil armstrong

The economic value of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) extends far beyond the footprint of its two campuses in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, according to a new study by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute.

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