Media Tip Sheet – October 2025

OCTOBER 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 are impactful or trending and offer WHOI experts if you’re interested in a deeper dive.

The USS Arizona offers a blueprint to tackle WWII oil leaks 

A new WHOI study shows that oil is still seeping from the wreck of the USS Arizona, more than 80 years after its sinking at Pearl Harbor. Researchers analyzed oil samples collected from multiple leak points on the sunken battleship, using advanced molecular fingerprinting techniques. The results confirm the oil is a heavy fuel oil refined from California crude, consistent with U.S. Navy fueling practices in the early 1940s. The findings underscore the USS Arizona's dual role as a solemn war grave and a “living laboratory” for understanding the long-term fate of petroleum trapped in shipwrecks. With an estimated 600,000 gallons of oil still on board, the research highlights the importance of ongoing monitoring and preparedness at the site. Researchers are available for interviews.

See how history seeps into science in the WHOI Press Room

Images available for use with credit can be found here.

Pomfret and circumstance: Researchers track an elusive mesopelagic predator

Why are sharks spending hours deep in the ocean’s mesopelagic zone? This zone, 200 to 1,000 meters (650 to 3,300 feet) below the surface, is home to more biomass than any other region, but most of its inhabitants are too small to feed an apex predator. A new study published in Marine Ecology Progress Series highlights the important roles of mid-sized predators, such as bigscale pomfret, linking the upper and lower layers of the ocean food web. Until now, scientists didn’t have enough data on how this fish—and similar species—move, making it hard to understand their behavior and role in the ecosystem. In this study, researchers used satellite-based tracking tags to follow the pomfret’s movements, something that was previously hard to do with deep-sea fish

Dive into the study in the WHOI Press Room.

It’s not your average vampire! Meet the ocean twilight zone’s fangtooth fish

The fangtooth may be small, but this nightmarish fish boasts the greatest teeth-to-body-size ratio of any critter in the ocean. Juvenile fangtooths haunt the surface, but adults sink into the ocean’s twilight zone, lurking in the dark. With ghostly blue eyes and poor vision, these frightening creatures are next to defenseless. They make up for it with “ultra-black” skin that swallows nearly all light, allowing it to vanish into the shadows until it can strike. Guided by eerie vibrations and the “scent” of prey in the water, it lunges with jaws that can snare victims even larger than itself.

In celebration of Halloween, learn more about this deep-sea monster in the miniature.

Other Stories:

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ken Buesseler receives AGU Honor

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution launches Ocean Learning Hub

On the October Calendar:

October 6: World Habitat Day

October 17: WHOI’s Campaign for our Ocean Planet kickoff

October 20: Release of 2024 North Atlantic Right Whale population numbers (NARW)

October 20-23: 2025 Ropeless Consortium Meeting and NARW Consortium Meetings

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