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Stunning Finds from Ancient Greek Shipwreck

October 9, 2014

A Greek and international team of divers and archaeologists has retrieved stunning new finds from an ancient Greek treasure ship that sank more than 2000 years ago off the remote island of Antikythera. The rescued antiquities include tableware, ship components, and a giant bronze spear that would have belonged to a life-sized warrior statue.

David Gallo

David Gallo Selected for Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award

October 9, 2014

The Explorers Club has chosen David Gallo, Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), as one of the recipients of this year’s Lowell Thomas Award. He is among six recipients who will be honored for their “imagination in exploration” at a dinner on October 11, 2014, at the Bowers Museum in Southern California.

New Collaborative Effort to Gauge National Marine Biodiversity

October 7, 2014

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers are part of a collaborative effort to understand and monitor changes in marine biodiversity within U.S. coastal waters. Marine biodiversity is a key indicator of ocean health and critical to sustaining natural resources such as fisheries.

Alvin 50th Celebration Highlights Essential Research

September 19, 2014

The human-occupied sub Alvin was the “guest of honor” this week at House and Senate staff briefings and a reception at the U.S. Capitol, commemorating 50 years of service as our nation’s deepest diving research submersible. A contingent of scientists…

Scientists Apply Biomedical Technique to Reveal Changes Within the Body of the Ocean

September 4, 2014

For decades, medical researchers have sought new methods to diagnose how different types of cells and systems in the body are functioning. Now scientists have adapted an emerging biomedical technique to study the vast body of the ocean. In a…

WHOI Scientists Receive $1 Million Grant from MacArthur Foundation

September 3, 2014

Rapid climate change and an increasing range of climate impacts are already being felt along our coasts, and new research suggests that U.S. Northeast coastal waters may be more vulnerable to climate change and ocean acidification than previously thought. How…

WHOI Announces 2014 Ocean Science Journalism Fellows

August 19, 2014

Eight writers, filmmakers, and multimedia science journalists from the U.S., England, and The Gambia have been selected to participate in the competitive Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Ocean Science Journalism Fellowship program. The program takes place September 7-12, 2014, in…

AGU Fellows 2014

Three WHOI Scientists Named 2014 American Geophysical Union Fellows

August 18, 2014

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists Rockwell Geyer, Susumu Honjo, and Delia Oppo have been elected 2014 fellows of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

REMUS SharkCam Captures Upclose Encounters with Great Whites

August 11, 2014

When a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) took a specially equipped REMUS SharkCam underwater vehicle to Guadalupe Island in Mexico to film great white sharks in the wild, they captured more than they bargained for.

Mercury in the Global Ocean

August 6, 2014

Although the days of odd behavior among hat makers are a thing of the past, the dangers mercury poses to humans and the environment persist today. Mercury is a naturally occurring element as well as a by-product of such distinctly…

DEEPSEA CHALLENGER Travels to NYC for Cameron Film Premiere

August 4, 2014

The co-star of the James Cameron’s latest film is not your typical Hollywood starlet. She’s 24-feet long, bright green and weighs approximately 11.8 tons. The one-of-a-kind, deep-diving submersible DEEPSEA CHALLENGER will travel from its home at the Woods Hole Oceanographic…

Newly Discovered Juvenile Whale Shark Aggregation in Red Sea

August 1, 2014

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus)—which grow more than 30 feet long—are the largest fish in the world’s ocean, but little is known about their movements on a daily basis or over years. A newly discovered juvenile whale shark aggregation off Saudi Arabia is giving researchers a rare glimpse into the lives of these gentle giants.

Dispersant from Deepwater Horizon Spill Found to Persist in the Environment

July 15, 2014

A new study by scientists at Haverford College and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has found that the dispersant compound DOSS, which decreases the size of oil droplets and hampers the formation of large oil slicks, remains associated with oil and can persist in the environment for up to four years.

“Science Made Public” Lecture Series Celebrates Alvin’s 50th Year

July 3, 2014

This summer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s “Science Made Public” series celebrates the deep-diving submersible Alvin’s 50 years in operation. A venerable giant in deep ocean research, Alvin has logged many accomplishments over the years, from discovering hydrothermal vents to exploring the…

James Bellingham Appointed Director of WHOI Center for Marine Robotics

July 2, 2014

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has appointed James Bellingham as the first director of its Center for Marine Robotics. Bellingham will come to WHOI in early fall 2014 from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), where he was director…

Tags Reveal Chilean Devil Rays Are Among Ocean’s Deepest Divers

July 1, 2014

Mainly thought to be surface dwellers, Chilean devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) are most often seen gliding through shallow, warm waters. But a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and international colleagues reveals that these large and majestic creatures are actually among the deepest-diving ocean animals.

Study Finds Emperor Penguin in Peril

June 29, 2014

An international team of scientists studying Emperor penguin populations across Antarctica finds the iconic animals in danger of dramatic declines by the end of the century due to climate change. Their study, published today in Nature Climate Change, finds the…

Understanding the Ocean’s Role in Greenland Glacier Melt

June 22, 2014

The Greenland Ice Sheet is a 1.7 million-square-kilometer, 2-mile thick layer of ice that covers Greenland. Its fate is inextricably linked to our global climate system. In the last 40 years, ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet increased four-fold…

Climate Change Winners and Losers

June 12, 2014

The Antarctic Peninsula, the northern most region of Antarctica, is experiencing some of the most dramatic changes due to climate warming, including population declines of some penguin species. This is not the first time that region has felt the effects…

Iconic Research Submersible Alvin Turns 50

June 5, 2014

We know more about the surface of other planets than we do about Earth’s ocean. And what is known about our ocean would not have been possible without the deep-sea submersible Alvin, one of the hardest working, most reliable vehicles…