News Releases
Changes in Earth’s Tilt Control When Glacial Cycles End
Scientists have long debated what causes glacial/interglacial cycles, which have occurred most recently at intervals of about 100,000 years. A new study reported in the March 24 issue of Nature…
Read MoreElephants Imitate Sounds as a Form of Social Communication
Elephants learn to imitate sounds that are not typical of their species, the first known example after humans of vocal learning in a non-primate terrestrial mammal.
Read MoreUnderwater Robot Launched from Bermuda to Cross Gulf Stream
A small autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, named Spray was launched yesterday about 12 miles southeast of Bermuda. The two-meter-(6-foot)-long orange glider with a four-foot wingspan will slowly make its…
Read MoreDeep-Sea Tremors May Provide Early Warning System for Larger Earthquakes
Predicting when large earthquakes might occur may be a step closer to reality, thanks to a new study of undersea earthquakes in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The study, reported in today??A’s Nature, is the first to suggest that small seismic shocks or foreshocks preceding a major earthquake can be used in some cases to predict the main tremors.
Read MoreAssessing Algerian Earthquake Risk
Scientists from WHOI and USGS Menlo Park will be assessing future earthquake risk in Algeria and training Algerian researchers under a new two-year project funded by the Office of Foreign…
Read MoreScanning the Seafloor
WHOI researchers and colleagues from other laboratories will be able to look at mud from the seafloor in a new way, thanks to a high-tech scanner capable of making rapid,…
Read MoreBarnacles and Mangroves
In a lush stand of mangroves on the Pacific coast of Panama, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biologist is looking for encrusting barnacles and oysters, common on the roots…
Read MoreDuke, Woods Hole Geologists Discover ‘Clockwork’ Motion by Ocean Floor Microplates
CONTACTS Monte Basgall (919) 681-8057 monte.basgall@duke.edu Shelley Dawicki (508) 289-2270 sdawicki@whoi.edu DURHAM, N.C. — A team of geologists from Duke University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has discovered a grinding,…
Read MoreChemical Compounds Found in Whale Blubber Are From Natural Sources, Not Industrial Contamination
Chemicals found in whale blubber, and initially suspected of being from industrial sources, have turned out to be naturally occurring, raising questions about the accumulation of both natural and industrial compounds in marine life.
Read MoreMajor Caribbean Earthquakes and Tsunamis a Real Risk
A dozen major earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have occurred in the Caribbean near Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and…
Read MoreWHOI Scientist to Receive American Meteorological Society Award
A physical oceanographer known for his theories of wind driven ocean circulation and the fluid dynamics of the oceans will receive the 2005 Sverdrup Gold Medal from the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation’s leading professional society for scientists in the atmospheric and related sciences, in ceremonies January 12 at the AMS annual meeting in San Diego.
Read MoreWHOI Celebrates 75th Anniversary with Science Symposium, Open House
The Institution will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2005 with a series of activities ranging from an Anything-But-a-Boat Regatta in August to a public open house and science symposium in…
Read MoreTsunami Warning Buoy Deployed off Chile
Scientists from the Chilean Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Office (SHOA), in cooperation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), deployed a SHOA tsunami warning buoy off Northern Chile in the…
Read MoreCenter for Ocean, Seafloor and Marine Observing Systems Established at WHOI
With decades of experience designing, building and operating marine observing systems of many types around the world, the Institution has established a Center for Ocean, Seafloor and Marine Observing Systems…
Read MoreCumulative Sperm Whale Bone Damage and the Bends
Woods Hole, MA–In a study published in the December 24, 2004 issue of the journal Science, Michael Moore and Greg Early at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have documented…
Read MoreNew Director Named for WHOI Ocean and Climate Change Institute
A Gulf Stream and ocean circulation expert has been named second director of the Ocean and Climate Change Institute at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Physical Oceanographer Terrence Joyce will…
Read MoreCatastrophic Flooding from Ancient Lake May Have Triggered Cold Period
Imagine a lake three times the size of the present-day Lake Ontario breaking through a dam and flooding down the Hudson River Valley past New York City and into the…
Read MoreWHOI Director Appointed to U.S. Commission to UNESCO
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) President and Director Robert Gagosian has been appointed to the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The National…
Read MoreWHOI Researcher Honored for Contributions to Education
A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biologist has been honored for her contributions to graduate education with the Institution’s first Arnold B. Arons Award for Excellence in Teaching, Advising and…
Read MoreFive WHOI Researchers Recognized for Contributions to Science and Education
Five researchers have been recognized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for their contributions to ocean sciences research and education. All will receive funding provided by the endowed awards…
Read MoreNew Hydrothermal Vents in the Pacific Located and Mapped with Robotic Vehicle
Three new deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields were discovered in September 2004 in the Lau Basin in the western Pacific between Tonga, Fiji and Samoa and were geologically and biologically mapped…
Read MoreNovel Instrument Sheds Light on Plankton Populations in Coastal Waters
Cabled ocean observatories, like the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), and new sensors like the Flow Cytobot are enabling scientists to study plankton community structure and processes with unprecedented detail.…
Read MoreClues from Past Hurricanes Help Assess Future Storm Risks
Reconstructing the history and intensity of hurricanes is useful when assessing future risks of these extreme events in coastal regions. Previous studies of North Atlantic hurricane activity have identified many…
Read MoreUnderwater Robot Makes History Crossing the Gulf Stream
Like the sailing vessel used by Captain Joshua Slocum to sail solo around the world 100 years ago, another ocean-going vehicle is making history. A small ocean glider named Spray…
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