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Press Room

Novel Instrument Sheds Light on Plankton Populations in Coastal Waters

December 1, 2004

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. MVCO is connected to shore by a fiber optic cable…

Clues from Past Hurricanes Help Assess Future Storm Risks

December 1, 2004

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 of the environmental factors that presently influence tropical cyclone activity.…

Underwater Robot Makes History Crossing the Gulf Stream

November 5, 2004

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 is the first autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, to cross…

Jellies in Antarctica

November 1, 2004

Salps, members of a large group of free-swimming, gelatinous organisms collectively known as jellies, are more common than previously thought in the waters around Antarctica. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists are studying the role of these fragile creatures in…

Finding Nemo, and All His Relatives?

November 1, 2004

Institution researchers will spend the next three months in Papua, New Guinea tracking clownfish, the same species made popular in the animated film “Finding Nemo,” as part of population studies. The team will tag all the embryos produced by approximately…

Monitoring Undersea Earthquakes, Deep Sea Tides and Magnetic Fields

November 1, 2004

One of the largest known mineral deposits in the deep sea, the Tag hydrothermal site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) in the North Atlantic Ocean, was the subject of a recent month-long cruise aboard the WHOI research vessel Knorr. Institution…

Phoning Home from the Ocean Floor – by Computer

October 8, 2004

Oceanographers will soon be able to sit in their labs ashore and communicate with instruments in the water at ocean observatories around the world, enabling researchers to direct instruments to respond to recent events like hurricanes and earthquakes in that…

Nature Author Carl Safina to give Public Lecture in Woods Hole September 21

September 13, 2004

Noted nature author Carl Safina will present a lecture titled “Eye of the Albatross” at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 21, in Redfield Auditorium of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), 45 Water Street, Woods Hole. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Our Moving Shoreline and Changing Climate

September 1, 2004

Sea level rise, eroding coastlines and increasing economic impact from severe storms on coastal communities are all part of studies underway at the Institution’s Coastal Ocean Institute. Climate researchers note that 2004 has been an unusually active hurricane season in…

Sea Otters and a Sense of Smell

September 1, 2004

Contrary to popular belief that marine mammals have a poor sense of smell, sea otters may have a nose that can actually help them distinguish between contaminated and safe abalone and clams, some of their favorite foods. Woods Hole Oceanographic…

A Milestone for JASON

September 1, 2004

The Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) JASON completed its 100th dive August 1 in Adak Canyon in the Aleutian Island chain as part of the Aleutian Coral Research Expedition (ACRE), funded by the NOAA’s West Coast and Polar Regions Undersea Research…

Deeper-Diving Human Occupied Submersible to Replace Alvin

August 6, 2004

Arlington, VA –After 40 years of scientific research that led to the discovery of new life forms, helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics, and enthralled schoolchildren around the world with seafloor images and video, the research submersible Alvin will…

A New Seafloor Observatory System

July 1, 2004

Monitoring earthquakes and changing ocean conditions, and adapting experiments to those changes, will now be possible with a new type of acoustically-linked moored observatory developed by WHOI scientists and engineers with colleagues at the University of Washington. The new observatory…

Insights into Harmful Algal Blooms

July 1, 2004

WHOI scientists have been sampling a coastal pond as part of a study of the effects of nutrients on toxic micro-algae that frequently contaminate shellfish in the pond and nearby marsh system with potent neurotoxins. The methods and approaches used…

Where Currents Collide and Marine Mammals Gather

July 1, 2004

Cape Hatteras, where the Gulf Stream veers off the continental slope into the deep ocean and heads toward Europe, will be the site of two intensive surveys in August 2004 and January-February 2005 to study frontal structures and the related…

WHOI Elects Members and Trustees at Spring Meeting of the Corporation

June 17, 2004

Nine new members and two new trustees were elected at the recent Joint Meeting of the Board of Trustees and Corporation at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. All Members will serve until 2007. Members are elected initially for a term of three years and are eligible for reelection to six-year terms. Trustees serve four-year terms and are eligible for reelection.

Abrupt Climate Change Brought to Public Attention in Hollywood Movie

May 28, 2004

The movie The Day After Tomorrow, released today by 20th Century Fox, paints a dramatic picture of the effects of climate change – and raises questions about the boundary between science and science fiction. How fast can Earth’s climate change? Will global warming raise sea level and flood coastal cities? If our climate cools, will it spawn an “ice age” in our lifetimes?

Tropical Plants Help Identify Lags Between Abrupt Climate and Vegetation Shifts in Different Parts of the World

May 28, 2004

Clues to the timing and cause of abrupt climate changes in the past may lie in ocean floor sediments, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

New Chair of the Corporation Elected at WHOI

May 14, 2004

Thomas B. Wheeler, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, has been elected Chairman of the Corporation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Two New Directors Named for WHOI’s Ocean Institutes

May 6, 2004

An international red tide expert and a leading researcher in mid-ocean ridge volcanism and hydrothermal processes have been named directors of two Ocean Institutes at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).