News Releases
Study Assesses Nations’ Vulnerabilities to Reduced Mollusk Harvests from Ocean Acidification
Changes in ocean chemistry due to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are expected to damage shellfish populations around the world, but some nations will feel the impacts much sooner and more intensely than others, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Read MoreWHOI Hosts Tours of the Research Vessel Knorr
On Sunday, August 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will host a free community event featuring a rare opportunity to tour the oceanographic research vessel Knorr. The ship is best known as the one used in the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic and of the first hydrothermal vents. Visitors to the event will also be able to attend talks by one of KnorrÂs former captains and scientists who have used it to study the worldÂs ocean..
Read MoreWHOI Study Reports Microbes Consumed Oil in Gulf Slick at Unexpected Rates
In the first published study to explain the role of microbes in breaking down the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have come up with answers that represent both surprisingly good news and a head-scratching mystery.
Read MoreWHOI Announces 2011 Ocean Science Journalism Fellows
Ten writers and multimedia science journalists from the U.S., Canada, France, Great Britain and South Korea have been selected to participate in the competitive Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Ocean […]
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Advanced Imaging Lab Assists in Location of Thunder Bay Shipwrecks
When a group of five high school students embarked on Project Shiphunt, an expedition in search of lost shipwrecks, in May in Lake Huron, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Advanced Imaging and Visualization Lab (AIVL) was there, surveying and capturing 3D footage of the finds. The work was conducted as part of Project Shiphunt, an initiative developed by Sony and Intel Corp and led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
Read MoreIdentical Virus, Host Populations Can Prevail for Centuries, WHOI Researcher Reports
A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist, analyzing ancient plankton DNA signatures in sediments of the Black Sea, has found for the first time that the same genetic populations of a virus and its algal host can persist and coexist for centuries. The findings have implications for the ecological significance of viruses in shaping algae ecosystems in the ocean, and perhaps fresh water as well.
Read MoreWHOI Scientists Analyze, Explain the Chemical Makeup of Gulf Plume
Taking another major step in sleuthing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has determined what chemicals were contained in a deep, hydrocarbon-containing plume at least 22 miles long that WHOI scientists mapped and sampled last summer in the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Read MoreWHOI Selects Hydroid to Provide Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Ocean Observatories Initiative
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership announced Hydroid will provide Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and docking stations to support the Pioneer Array of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI).
Read MoreWHOI Study Sheds Light on Tunicate Evolution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have filled an important gap in the study of tunicate evolution by genetically sequencing 40 new specimens of thaliaceans, a gelatinous type of tunicate. Their study was featured on the cover of the June issue of the Journal of Plankton Research.
Read MoreWHOI Selects Teledyne Webb Research to Provide Open Ocean Gliders for Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI)
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (OL) announced Teledyne Webb Research, of East Falmouth, Mass., will provide open ocean gliders supporting the Coastal […]
Read MoreU.S. Chief of Naval Operations Makes First Visit to WHOI
On June 10, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) hosted a visit from Admiral Gary Roughead, the Chief of Naval Operations, marking the first such appearance by a serving Chief of Naval Operations.
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution to Lead Expedition to Measure Radioactive Contaminants in the Pacific Ocean
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will lead the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the Fukushima nuclear power plant—a research effort funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Read MoreJapan Earthquake Appears to Increase Quake Risk Elsewhere in the Country
JapanÃÂs recent magnitude 9.0 earthquake, which triggered a devastating tsunami, relieved stress along part of the quake fault but also has contributed to the build up of stress in other areas, putting some of the country at risk for up to years of sizeable aftershocks and perhaps new main shocks, scientists say.
Read MoreWHOI to Host Public Forum on Seafood Security
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will host a public forum on May 25 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Redfield Auditorium on the theme ÃÂÃÂThe Seafood Dilemma: Does it Matter Where We Get Our Seafood? The Balance of US Production, Imports, Wild Capture, and Aquaculture in US Seafood Supply.ÃÂÃÂ
Read MoreEmerging Explorers Award to WHOI’s Kakani Katija
Kakani Katija, a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has been selected as one of 14 National Geographic Emerging Explorers for 2011 for her investigation into the role swimming animals might play in mixing and moving the oceans and other large bodies of water.
Read MoreWHOI Unveils Website on its Role in Gulf Oil Spill Research
One year after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is unveiling a new multimedia website, Science in a Time of Crisis.
Read MoreEddies Found to be Deep, Powerful Modes of Ocean Transport
Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and their colleagues have discovered that massive, swirling ocean eddiesÂknown to be up to 500 kilometers across at the surfaceÂcan reach all the way to the ocean bottom at mid-ocean ridges, some 2,500 meters deep, transporting tiny sea creatures, chemicals, and heat from hydrothermal vents over large distances.
Read MorePrey-tell: Why Right Whales Linger in the Gulf of Maine
WHOIÃÂs Mark Baumgartner finds that the location, the length of stay, and perhaps the very abundance of the whales may be dependent on an interesting vertical migration pattern by the copepods on which the whales feed. It seems to be a case, he said, of ÃÂhow the behavior of the prey influences the behavior of the whales.ÃÂ
Read MoreResearchers Report Potential for a Moderate New England ‘Red Tide’ in 2011
Scientists from the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project issued an outlook for a moderate regional bloom of a toxic alga that can cause ‘red tides’ in the spring […]
Read MoreWHOI-led Team Locates Air France Wreckage
A search team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has located the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 some 3,900 meters, or nearly 2.5 miles, below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil’s northeastern coast.
Read MoreStudy Sheds Light on How Heat is Transported to Greenland Glaciers
Warmer air is only part of the story when it comes to Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet. New research by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) highlights the role […]
Read MoreWHOI Conducts Latest Search for Air France Flight 447
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is again teaming with French authorities to renew the international search for the deep-sea wreck site of Air France Flight 447 and to retrieve the flight recorders from the Airbus A 330.
Read MoreWHOI-Led Report Links Sonar to Whale Strandings
An international team of researchers reports in a paper led by WHOI’s Peter Tyack the first data on how beaked whales respond to naval sonar exercises. Their results suggest that sonar indeed affects the behavior and movement of whales.
Read MoreOn the Sizeable Wings of Albatrosses
An oceanographer may be offering the best explanation yet of one of the great mysteries of flighthow albatrosses fly such vast distances, even around the world, almost without flapping their wings. The answer, says Philip L. Richardson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), lies in a concept called dynamic soaring, in which the large bird utilizes the power of above-ocean wind shear while tacking like an airborne sailboat.
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