News Releases
In CO2-rich Environment, Some Ocean Dwellers Increase Shell Production
In a striking finding that raises new questions about carbon dioxide?s (CO2) impact on marine life, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists report that some shell-building creatures?such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters?unexpectedly build more shell when exposed to ocean acidification caused by elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
Read MoreCO2 Emissions Continue Significant Climb
The annual rate of increase in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has more than tripled in this decade, compared to the 1990s, reports an international consortium of scientists, who paint a bleak picture of the Earth?s future unless ?CO2 emissions [are] drastically reduced.?
Read MoreNew Tsunami Education Web Site Developed by Oceanographers
Scientists and Web developers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created a new educational Web site with crucial tips on how to prepare for and survive a tsunami. Tagged as “an interactive guide that could save your life,” the site also features the latest tsunami-related science research and compelling tsunami survivor videos and…
Read MoreWHOI?s Bruce A. Warren Is Awarded Sverdrup Gold Medal
Bruce A. Warren?one of the world?s pre-eminent researchers of deep ocean currents and scientist emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)?is the 2010 winner of the prestigious Sverdrup Gold Medal, awarded by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
Read MoreSEA to conduct expedition dedicated to measuring plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean
(Woods Hole, Mass.) — Sea Education Association (SEA) is preparing to conduct the first-ever research expedition dedicated solely to examining the accumulation of plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean. The expedition, scheduled to begin in June, will expand upon a 20-year data set previously collected by SEA that reveals a region of extensive…
Read MoreNewly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer with an Upside
A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research. The team discovered a previously unknown lipid, or fatty compound, in a virus…
Read MoreMystery Solved: Marine Microbe Is Source of Rare Nutrient
A new study of microscopic marine microbes, called phytoplankton, by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of South Carolina has solved a ten-year-old mystery about the source of an essential nutrient in the ocean. Roughly a decade ago scientists discovered a rare form of organic phosphorus in marine organic matter. Not…
Read MoreClimate Change Meets Ocean Life in New Northeast Research Institute
Federal and academic marine scientists in the Northeast have combined resources in a new effort to understand how the large marine ecosystem off the northeastern U.S. functions. “I am very pleased to be involved in research that can truly improve the way we manage valuable ocean resources,” said Don Anderson, senior scientist at the Woods…
Read MoreWHOI Will Host Public Forum on Sea Level Rise
sea level rise, Morss Colloquium, polar ice cap, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Will Lead Coastal and Global Observatories Effort
A Cooperative Agreement signed today by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (OL) gives Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and its partners approval to begin construction on ocean observing infrastructure at coastal sites offshore of southern New England, Oregon, and Washington, and at high latitude open-ocean sites in the Atlantic,…
Read MoreNew Temperature Reconstruction from Indo-Pacific Warm Pool
A new 2,000-year-long reconstruction of sea surface temperatures (SST) from the Indo-Pacific warm pool (IPWP) suggests that temperatures in the region may have been as warm during the Medieval Warm Period as they are today. The IPWP is the largest body of warm water in the world, and, as a result, it is the largest…
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Appoints New Chief Financial Officer
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) announced today that it has appointed Christopher J. (Chris) Winslow to the position of chief financial officer (CFO) and VP for Finance and Administration. Winslow will assume his duties at WHOI on August 24, 2009. “I am delighted that Chris will be joining us,” said WHOI President and Director…
Read MoreRising acidity levels could trigger shellfish revenue declines, job losses
Changes in ocean chemistry — a consequence of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human industrial activity — could cause U.S. shellfish revenues to drop significantly in the next 50 years, according to a new study by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Intensive burning of fossil fuels and deforestation over the last…
Read MoreHybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle Nereus Reaches Deepest Part of the Ocean
A new type of deep-sea robotic vehicle called Nereus has successfully reached the deepest part of the world’s ocean, reports a team of U.S. engineers and scientists aboard the research vessel Kilo Moana. The dive to 10,902 meters (6.8 miles) occurred on May 31, 2009, at the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in the…
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 bear under the Endangered Species Act. The new paper, by a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI),…
Read MoreSkip This Cocktail Party: Contaminants in Marine Mammals’ Brains
The most extensive study of pollutants in marine mammals’ brains reveals that these animals are exposed to a hazardous cocktail of pesticides such as DDTs and PCBs, as well as emerging contaminants such as brominated flame retardants. Eric Montie, the lead author on the study currently in press and published online April 17 in Environmental…
Read MoreNatural Petroleum Seeps Release Equivalent of 8-80 Exxon Valdez Oil Spills
A new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is the first to quantify the amount of oil residue in seafloor sediments that result from natural petroleum seeps off Santa Barbara, California. The new study shows the oil content of sediments is highest closest to…
Read MoreStudy Finds Surprising New Pathway for North Atlantic Circulation
Oceanographers have long known that the 20-year-old paradigm for describing the global ocean circulation– called the Great Ocean Conveyor – was an oversimplification. It’s a useful depiction, but it’s like describing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as a catchy tune. The ocean conveyor paradigm says the Gulf Stream-warmed ocean releases heat to the atmosphere in the northern…
Read MoreWHOI Team Aids Center for Coastal Studies in Whale Disentanglement
On Monday, May 4, a team of researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) was working in the Great South Channel 40 miles east-southeast of Chatham, Mass., when they sighted a humpback whale severely entangled in fishing gear. They alerted a rescue team from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) and kept watch…
Read MoreResearchers Report Potential for “Moderately Large” Red Tide Outbreak in the Gulf of Maine Region for 2009
The potential for an outbreak of the phenomenon commonly called “red tide” is expected to be “moderately large” this spring and summer, according to researchers with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and North Carolina State University (NCSU). This advisory is based in part on a regional seafloor survey of quantities of Alexandrium fundyense —…
Read MoreJohn Toole Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
John Toole of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most esteemed honorary societies and a center for independent policy research. Toole, a senior scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography at WHOI, was elected as an American Academy…
Read MoreThree Woods Hole Scientific Institutions Forge Alliance to Address Societal Issues
Three leading research centers based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, announce the creation of the Woods Hole Consortium, a new alliance that will bring their combined scientific power to bear on some of the major issues facing society today and spawn scientific growth and job opportunity on the South Coast of Massachusetts. The consortium comprises the…
Read MoreWHOI Announces Completion of Comprehensive Campaign
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has successfully completed its “Depth of Leadership” campaign, the Institution’s Board of Trustees recently announced, with $194.6 million raised over the past nine years. This total represents the largest amount the Institution has ever raised in a campaign. The total included a $28-million anonymous gift given in 2002 to…
Read MorePolar Discovery Online Expedition Brings Arctic Experience to Virtual Explorers
Beginning April 4, students, teachers, museum visitors, and virtual explorers can join a multi-institutional team of researchers led by Carin Ashjian of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on a 38-day expedition in the Arctic’s Bering Sea. Through interactive sessions at museums and daily dispatches, videos and photo essays on the Polar Discovery Web site…
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