News Releases
Is U.S. Marine Aquaculture Economically Sustainable?
With growing global populations and ever-increasing demands for seafood, fish farms are expected to expand significantly over the next few decades. But is aquaculture economically sustainable? Do the benefits outweigh…
Read MoreGoing Virtual in Marine Biology Education
Whyvillians have a problem: harmful algae are threatening their beaches and coastal ecosystem. In order to investigate, understand, and mitigate the problem, citizens are turning to the Whyville Oceanographic Institution…
Read MoreJim Ledwell Awarded Agassiz Medal by National Academy of Sciences
Oceanographer Jim Ledwell of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has been selected as the winner of the 2007 Alexander Agassiz Medal, awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences…
Read MoreFirst-Ever Call from Alvin Submersible to International Space Station
Listen to the first call between ocean explorers and astronauts.
Read MoreThe Third Elisabeth and Henry Morss Jr. Colloquium
Media Advisory WHAT: Fire and Ice Climate Changes of the Past…and Future? A public debate on the lessons from a previous warm interval in Earth’s climate history The Third Elisabeth…
Read MoreIndependent Panel Recommends Strong, Clear Guidelines for Development of Marine Aquaculture in the United States
Congress should enact legislation to ensure that strong environmental standards are in place to regulate the siting and conduct of offshore marine aquaculture, according to an independent panel of leaders from scientific, policymaking, business, and conservation institutions. Organized by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Marine Aquaculture Task Force was charged with examining the risks and benefits of marine aquaculture and developing a set of national policy recommendations to guide future development in our oceans.
Read MoreJohn A. Whitehead Honored By American Meteorological Society
John A. Whitehead awarded AMS’s Stommel Award ?for his fundamental contributions to geophysical fluid dynamics and physical oceanography, for which his laboratory and observational studies of rotating hydraulic flows have been particularly illuminating.?
Read MoreEyes on the Ocean March 2007: A Photo Resource for the Media
Eggs for Breakfast This egg sac of Euchaeta norvegica, a copepod, turned up in researchers’ plankton nets as they were being towed by the Albatross IV through the waters…
Read MoreScientists “See” New Ocean Floor Just Before and After It Is Created
A multidisciplinary research team from six institutions has for the first time successfully anticipated and then chronicled a seafloor eruption along the global mid-ocean ridge, the most active volcanic system on Earth. The event along the East Pacific Rise has provided researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) with a rare opportunity to observe what happens in the immediate aftermath of an eruption.
Read MoreNobumichi Shimizu Has Been Named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Nobumichi Shimizu of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a fellow is an…
Read MoreWHOI Expands Research in Tropical Regions with New Initiative
With more than 25 percent of the planet lying between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are taking advantage of a recent gift…
Read MoreWHOI Receives $1 Million Gift to Encourage Innovation in Technology
A longtime Osterville resident who loved the oceans and supported the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for more than four decades before he died in 2005 has left a $1 million…
Read MoreSea Urchin Genome Yields New Understanding of “Chemical Defensome”
The Sea Urchin Genome Sequencing Consortium, a group of 240 researchers from more than 70 institutions in 11 countries, recently announced the sequencing of the California purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.
Read MoreFour WHOI Researchers Recognized for Contributions to Science and Engineering
Four researchers have been recognized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for their contributions to ocean sciences research and engineering. All will receive funding provided by the endowed awards…
Read MoreMercury and Fish
WHOI scientists and colleagues at the University of Connecticut have found the first connection between mercury levels in freshwater fish and atmospheric mercury pollution, most of which is derived from…
Read MorePicture Perfect Plankton
The Large Area Plankton Imaging System, or LAPIS, is providing biologists with a new tool to study plankton to depths of 500 meters (1,640 feet). Until now, fragile gelatinous animals…
Read MoreColossal Corer
A 50-meter (165-foot) long coring system nearing completion at WHOI will enable paleoceanographers to reconstruct past climates back tens of millions of years and expand the coring capabilities of the…
Read MoreBeaked Whales Perform Extreme Dives to Hunt Deepwater Prey
A study of ten beaked whales of two poorly understood species shows they dive much deeper and longer than reported for any other air-breathing species, a finding of particular interest since beaked whales stranded during naval sonar exercises have been reported to have symptoms of decompression sickness.
Read MoreHarmful Algal Bloom (Red Tide) Models and Forecasts to be Expanded in Gulf of Maine
A new observation and modeling program focused on the southern Gulf of Maine and adjacent New England shelf waters could aid policymakers in deciding whether or not to re-open, develop,…
Read MoreLessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Topic of Public Forum
How coastal communities manage risks associated with major tsunamis is an issue of global importance following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 200,000 people and caused…
Read MoreAntique Whale Oil Provides Insights to Origin of Pre-Industrial Chemicals
One of the last remaining New England whaling ships has provided unexpected insights into the origin of halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) that have similar chemical and physical properties as toxic…
Read MoreRapid Sea Level Rise in the Arctic Ocean May Alter Views of Human Migration
Scientists have found new evidence that the Bering Strait near Alaska flooded into the Arctic Ocean about 11,000 years ago, about 1,000 years earlier than widely believed, closing off the…
Read MoreDigital Tags Provide Evidence that Narwhals May Produce Signature Vocalizations for Communication
Scientists have found preliminary evidence that narwhals, Arctic whales whose spiraled tusks gave rise to the myth of the unicorn, produce signature vocalizations that may facilitate individual recognition or their…
Read MoreABE Joins Alvin and Jason at Sea
The Autonomous Benthic Explorer, ABE, one of the first autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to routinely work in the deep ocean, has joined the U.S. National Deep Submergence Facility, providing ocean…
Read More