News Releases
WHOI Elects Officers, Trustees and Corporation Members
Officers of the Corporation Elected May 13, 1999
Read MoreActive 14,000 Foot Submarine Volcano Found near Samoa in South Pacific
An active volcano rising more than 4,300 meters (over 14,100 feet) from the ocean floor in the Samoa Islands has been discovered by a team of U.S. scientists, providing more evidence to the scientific debate over the formation of hot spot island chains. The volcano, more than 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) across at its…
Read MoreGiant Sulfur Bacteria Discovered off African Coast
The largest bacterium ever found, a harmless organism that grows as a string of white beads large enough to be visible to the naked eye, has been found in coastal sediments off the coast of Namibia by an international research team. In an article in today’s issue of the journal Science, researchers from the Max…
Read MoreDeputy Prime Minister of England to Visit WHOI April 23 to Discuss Deep-Sea Research, International Collaboration
John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, will visit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) April 23 to discuss potential collaboration and to learn more about deep sea research. His visit will follow meetings earlier in the week with Vice President…
Read MoreMarie Tharp Honored at Women Pioneers Seminar
Oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp, co-creator of the first world ocean floor map and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, was honored by the Women’s Committee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) March 30 with the 1999 Women Pioneers in Oceanography Award.
Read MoreNew Model Suggests Northern Right Whale Population on Path to Extinction
The North Atlantic northern right whale, considered to be the most endangered large whale species, is headed for extinction unless human intervention improves survival, according to a new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMASS Boston). Their report, the first to obtain rigorous statistical estimates of…
Read MoreThree WHOI Scientists Recognized with Endowed Positions
Three scientists have been recognized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for their contributions to ocean sciences research. Drs. Cheryl Ann Butman of the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, David A. Caron of the Biology Department and Brian E. Tucholke of the Geology and Geophysics Department have each been named the recipient of…
Read MoreThree at WHOI Receive Senior Technical Awards for Technical Innovation and Excellence in Educational Activities
Daniel E. Frye, Barrie B. Walden and Carl 0. Wirsen have been named recipients of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Senior Technical Staff Awards for their contributions to the development of technology and their efforts to guide younger staff in their careers. Each award is approximately $60,000 and is intended primarily for salary support anytime…
Read MoreU.S. Navy Honors Two WHOI Scientists
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has named Senior Scientist Robert A. Weller and Associate Scientist Steven P. Anderson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as recipients of its 1999 Secretary of the Navy/Chief of Naval Operations Oceanographic Research Chair and ONR/Institution Scholar. Weller received the research chair and Anderson the scholar award. Only…
Read MoreNearshore Observatory to be Installed off Martha’s Vineyard for Long-term Meteorological and Oceanographic Studies
Real-time data on coastal storms, on movement of sand that buries harbor entrances and inlets, and on the impact of winds on shoreline processes will soon be available through a new nearshore observatory planned off the south coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, by scientists and engineers from the nearby Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Following…
Read MoreScientists Plug Into Power and Communications ‘Outlet’ on the Seafloor
Scientists and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues have successfully created the first permanent deep ocean seafloor observatory in the United States by connecting a junction box to a retired telephone cable on the seafloor in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California. The observatory rests in 5.0…
Read MoreU.S. Navy Gives Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Deep Diving Submarine
The U.S. Navy has transferred custody of its deepest-diving submersible, Sea Cliff, to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), operator of the National Deep Submergence Facility for the ocean research community. Capable of diving to 20,000 feet, Sea Cliff is considered a sister vehicle to the Institution-operated Alvin, which carries three people to depths up…
Read MoreWHOI Symposium to Address the State of Worlds’ Fisheries
World leaders in fisheries oceanography will give an overview of the current state of the worlds’ fisheries in a symposium hosted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Tuesday, August 25, 1998 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Redfield Auditorium on Water Street in Woods Hole. The scientific community of Woods Hole and…
Read MoreWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Has Visible Role in National Oceans Conference and in Lisbon World’s Fair
With 1998 declared the International Year of the Ocean by the United Nations and President Clinton, marine research and engineering are major topics of discussion at both the upcoming National Oceans Conference in Monterey, California, and at EXPO ’98, the world’s fair in Lisbon, Portugal. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the largest private independent marine…
Read MoreGlobal Ocean Observatories a Major Initiative of National Ocean Conference
Global ocean observatories and the link they provide to climate prediction and education was one of the topics of discussion today at the National Ocean Conference in Monterey, CA. Dr. Robert B. Gagosian, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and one of the invited participants in the conference, briefed President Clinton today on…
Read MoreResults of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Survey of Largest British Merchant Ship Ever Lost Released In Great Britain
Results of a 1997 deep-sea survey of the wreck of the M/V Derbyshire, the largest British merchant ship in terms of tonnage ever lost at sea, were released today in Great Britain by the British Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The survey was conducted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) at…
Read MoreAdvances in Underwater Imaging Provide Scientists With New Eyes in an Amazing Undersea World
A new suite of deep-sea camera systems, including a prototype high definition color television camera, has captured some unprecedented images of exotic life forms living in total darkness and freezing temperatures on the seafloor. The cameras, successfully used on a just-concluded research cruise off the Mexican coast in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, provide scientists with…
Read MoreHistoric Dives: Two Deep-Sea Submersibles Exploring Earth’s Inner Space on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
The U.S. deep-diving submersible Alvin, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the French submersible Nautile are diving today on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an undersea mountain range in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, in a historic example of international cooperation and exploration of planet Earth. It is believed…
Read MoreU.S. Ocean Research Fleet’s Newest Vessel To Visit New York and Washington,DC
The 274-foot Research Vessel Atlantis, the nation’s newest and most capable deep-sea research vessel and new support ship for the deep-diving three-person submersible Alvin, will visit New York City May 14-16 and Washington, DC May 19-21 as part of its first cruise before it begins extensive research activities in the Pacific Ocean. Atlantis, which left…
Read MoreWHOI Presents Its Highest Honor to Physicist William Jenkins
The twelfth Henry Bryant Bigelow Award in Oceanography, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) highest honor, was presented January 31 to a member of the Institution’s own scientific staff. Senior Scientist William J. Jenkins of the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, a physicist, was honored for his “outstanding contributions to the development of the tritium-helium…
Read MorePhoning Home from the Seafloor: New Undersea Laboratory Will Provide First Real-time, Long-Term Ocean Measurements
Pitting science and technology against the storm-driven forces of the open coastal ocean, a team of engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and scientists from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has established what may be the first long-term undersea observatory in the world. The new undersea research station directly links…
Read MoreRetirement of Research Vessel Atlantis II Marks the End of An Era
After a 33-year career and countless contributions to ocean sciences, the 210-foot Research Vessel Atlantis II is being retired from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) research fleet and from the national academic research fleet. The ship, support vessel for the deep-diving three-person submersible Alvin since 1984, will depart Woods Hole, MA, July 23 for…
Read MoreAtlantis Launched February 1
The first ship in the United States’ academic research fleet to be built as a platform for both manned and unmanned deep-sea exploration was launched in Pascagoula, Mississippi, February 1
Read MoreConstruction Begins on U.S. Ocean Research Fleet’s Newest Vessel
Senior officials from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the U.S. Navy attended ceremonies August 16 at Halter Marine, Inc. in Moss Point, Mississippi, for the laying of the keel for WHOI’s new research vessel, Atlantis (AGOR-25). The keel laying symbolizes the beginning of the construction of the as yet unnamed ship, which will…
Read More
