News Releases
U.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.
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Announces Selection of Teledyne Webb Research to Provide Coastal 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 coastal gliders supporting the Pioneer and Endurance…
Read MoreNauset Marsh Estuary Red Tide Study to Begin
A three-year study into the cause of local area red tides is set to begin March 21. A team of researchers from the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and…
Read MoreWHOI Experts Stress Lessons From Japan Earthquake
While JapanÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs 9.0-magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami represent a devastating natural disaster for the countryÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs residents, scientists should also seize upon the massive temblor as an important learning tool for future quakes around the world, including the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, according to experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Read MoreWHOI Ranks No. 2 in Top Ten Places for Postdocs to Work
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) ranked second of the ten best places to work for postdoctoral researchers, according to a 2011 survey by the magazine The Scientist. The rankings included 76 US institutions.
Read MoreWHOI Helps Form International Consortium on Iron and the Oceans
With a mission of exploring the potential impact of iron fertilization of the oceans to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution…
Read MoreFirst Harmful Algal Bloom Species Genome Sequenced
The microscopic phytoplankton Aureococcus anophagefferens, which causes devastating brown tides, may be tiny but it’s a fierce competitor. In the first genome sequencing of a harmful algal bloom species, researchers…
Read MorePollution Triggers Genetic Resistance Mechanism in a Coastal Fish
For 30 years, two General Electric facilities released about 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into New YorkA?s Hudson River, devastating and contaminating fish populations. Some 50 years later, one type of fishA?the Atlantic tomcodA?has not only survived but appears to be thriving in the hostile Hudson environment.
Read MoreScientists Find Part of New Zealand’s Submerged “Pink Terraces”
They were called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Until the late 19th century, New Zealand’s Pink and White Terraces along Lake Rotomahana on the North Island, attracted tourists from…
Read MoreHal Caswell Wins Humboldt Research Award
Hal Caswell, a senior scientist in the Biology Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), was awarded a 2010 Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn,…
Read MoreFirst Study of Dispersants in Gulf Spill Suggests a Prolonged Deepwater Fate
To combat last year?s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, nearly 800,000 gallons of chemical dispersant were injected directly into the oil and gas flow coming out of the wellhead nearly one mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, as scientists begin to assess how well the strategy worked at breaking up oil droplets, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) chemist Elizabeth B. Kujawinski and her colleagues report that a major component of the dispersant itself was contained within an oil-gas-laden plume in the deep ocean and had still not degraded some three months after it was applied.
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