News Tips

    APRIL 2025 MEDIA TIP SHEET Welcome to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s media tip sheet. Our goal is to provide an advanced or detailed look at stories we believe…

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake—one of the largest ever recorded—occurred 80 miles off the coast of Japan. The earthquake created a series of tsunamis, the largest estimated…

What is deep-sea mining?
Deep-sea mining is the proposed extraction of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources from the ocean floor at water depths greater than 200 meters (650 feet). Shallow-water mining for sand, tin, and diamonds already occurs in some locations around the globe.

What are clinging jellyfish?
Clinging jellyfish (Gonionemus) are small jellies—adults are about 2.5 centimeters (~1 inch) in diameter—that have an orange-brown cross on their transparent bodies. They are known as “clinging” jellyfish because they have sticky pads on their tentacles that allow them to anchor to seagrasses and seaweeds.

Amy Kukulya, an engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday July 18, 2018, to testify at a hearing entitled, “SHARKS!”

Scientists from WHOI, as part of a project funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, will install a “Wind Cube” laser-based instrument off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard to remotely sense wind speeds.

On Tues., Oct. 13, 2015, the WHOI computer network was shut down for several hours and all WHOI email account holders were required to change their passwords. These actions were necessary because of an aggressive cyberattack on our system.

An international research team led by Daniel García (Director of Veterinary Services), Oceanográfic, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias in Spain reports in the scientific journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms that decompression sickness (DCS), also known as the bends, has been diagnosed for the first time in a live air-breathing, marine vertebrate—the loggerhead sea turtle.

The mud volcano Haakon Mosby in the Barents Sea near Norway annually emits several hundred tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But do mud volcanoes like Haakon Mosby emit…

October 2014—A concerted 12-year study of a remote interior region of the Arctic Ocean—considered the flywheel of Arctic climate—has revealed significant environmental changes that could in turn cause further changes in ocean circulation and climate.

On the 50th anniversary year of the nation’s deep-sea research submersible Alvin, scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will brief the House of Representatives staff on scientific exploration of the ocean and its benefits to the nation.

Modeling the social and ecological effects of climate change on the U.S. Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery

Hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV) Nereus was confirmed lost 9,990 meters (6.2 miles) below the sea surface in the Kermadec Trench northeast of New Zealand on May 10, 2014, at about 2:45 p.m. local time (10:45 p.m. Friday EDT).

Coastal communities from Alaska to southern California have joined Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine chemist Ken Buesseler to monitor marine radioactivity levels. More than three years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan, questions remain about how much radioactive material has been released and how widely and quickly it is dispersing across the Pacific Ocean.

The accumulation and melting of sea ice in the Arctic has an enormous impact on the local climate, which in turn can affect the global climate. As the climate warms and Arctic sea ice retreats, it has become crucial to understand the complex ice-atmosphere-ocean dynamics within the Arctic. One major component in this dynamic is the Beaufort Gyre (BG), a wind-driven sea ice circulation and freshwater reservoir in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea.

More than 300 scientists contributed to the latest report on the current and future impacts of climate change on the United States. After an extensive review by experts from federal agencies and the National Academy of Sciences, the National Climate Assessment (NCA) Report 3 was approved and released for the public on May 6, 2014.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has offered its expertise to the authorities responsible for the search for MH370. At this time, WHOI is not involved in the search. Until more information is available, we are limiting media interviews to those already booked.

AR5 Working Group I Final Report Climate 2013: The Physical Science Basis   What is the IPCC? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international body responsible for…

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake—one of the largest ever recorded—occurred 80 miles off the coast of Japan. The earthquake created a series of tsunamis, the largest estimated…

News releases, animation and video, related links.

News release, slides and audio, vehicles and tools, expedition scientists, animation and video, and background.

Listen to the first call between ocean explorers and astronauts.