WHOI in the News
Large vessels failing to obey speed limits to protect endangered whales, report finds
Breakthrough discovery: Mote researchers may have found method to kill red tide with clay
Outside Mote Marine Laboratory, Dr. Lewis deployed a technique called clay flocculation. It’s a project led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Dr. Don Anderson.
Review evaluates the evidence for an intensifying Indian Ocean water cycle
The paper brings together various scientific expertise, tools, and data sources to address key questions regarding climate change in the Indian Ocean, says Ummenhofer, associate scientist in the Physical Oceanography Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Rare, ghostly glass octopus photographed on recent Pacific Ocean expedition
“Expeditions like these teach us why we need to increase our efforts to restore and better understand marine ecosystems everywhere — because the great chain of life that begins in the ocean is critical for human health and well being,” Schmidt said.
Underwater robot Mesobot patrols depths other robots cannot reach
The Mesobot was conceived to complement the work done by existing underwater robots and related systems, filling important gaps that conventional underwater robots have not been able to fill.
Mashpee teacher, WHOI scientist part of symposium promoting more women in science, STEM
The symposium is also expected to provide what organizers describe as “hands-on, intimate spaces for attendees to come together to create real-world solutions that can be taken back to their place of work or education.”
Sharks and the ocean’s twilight zone: Some female great white sharks can deep dive for hours
Much of the shark focus around the Cape is on great whites roaming close to the shoreline as they prowl for seals, but researchers are finding out that several sharks are actually diving deep into the twilight zone out in the middle of the ocean. Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod are researching the sharks’ deep diving behavior and how sharks’ bodies have evolved to handle these deeper conditions. They’re learning that deep diving is far more frequent and extensive across species than previously thought, said Simon Thorrold, a senior scientist in the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
‘The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52’ Review: An Enthusiastic, Anticlimactic Personal Quest to Find a One-of-a-Kind Whale Yields Mixed Results
Study shows that lobsters can detect sound, and raises concern about impact of anthropogenic noise
This is the first study demonstrating sound detection in the American lobster using what’s known as auditory evoked potential (AEP) methods, which use electrodes placed near the brain of the animal to detect neuron responses to sounds.
New Ocean Buoy Monitors Whales Off MD.’s Atlantic Coast
The buoy is equipped with a hydrophone to record marine mammal calls, and thanks to an algorithm, researchers will be able to determine whether they belong to a humpback, fin, sei, or a critically-endangered North Atlantic Right whale.
Decoding Marine Oil Spills Requires Slick Detective Work
It turns out the business of solving who may have dumped something bad into the ocean in two recent local incidents is much like solving any big crime – it takes good detective work.
The science behind extinguishing the Gulf of Mexico’s ‘ocean fire’
When firefighting boats circled the so-called “eye of fire,” spraying a steady stream of water on the outskirts of the flames, some Twitter users viewed the development with bemusement: were these boats fighting a fire, burning on the ocean, with… seawater?
‘What we know now is how much we don’t know’: Enter the strange world of the ocean twilight zone
A difficult area to study and often overlooked by science, new technology is aiding its exploration, forcing researchers to re-evaluate just how much life is down there. Researchers now believe there is 10 times, maybe 100 times the biomass previously thought, says Heidi Sosik, senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Robot Dives 3,000 Feet to Film Creatures in Mid-Ocean ‘Twilight Zone’
Bioluminescent creatures and others inhabiting the dark depths 3,000 feet below the surface in the mid-ocean “twilight zone” — beyond the reach of sunlight — are now being documented by a research robot called Mesobot. The underwater robot was created in a joint effort by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and Stanford University.
Alvin: Pioneer of the Deep
The deep-sea submersible Alvin has brought explorers to extraordinary places for more than 50 years. Now, as Alvin is poised to continue its revolutionary scientific work, a new set of upgrades will take it deeper than ever before. A coproduction with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Roaming the Depths: The Role of Autonomous Assets in the EXPORTS Campaign
The difficulty of science at sea has been one driving factor in the development of autonomous platforms for use in scientific research.
Explorer Robert Ballard’s memoir finds shipwrecks and strange life forms in the ocean’s darkest reaches
In the early 1970s, when Ballard was doing his graduate work in marine geology and geophysics, scientists were still refining the basics of plate tectonics theory.
Icebergs Drifting from Canada to Southern Florida
Using high resolution seafloor mapping, radiocarbon dating and a new iceberg model, the team analyzed about 700 iceberg scours (“plow marks” on the seafloor left behind by the bottom parts of icebergs dragging through marine sediment) from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the Florida Keys.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Appoints New Chief Scientist for National Deep Submergence Facility
Dr. Anna Michel, an associate scientist in the Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, will be the first woman to serve in this high-profile role effective July 1, 2021.
Whales don’t spray water from their blowholes and other myths, debunked
We’re dispelling the most common misconceptions about these marine mammals—which is essential to keeping them safe and healthy.
Massive icebergs from Hudson Bay used to travel all the way to Florida, research suggests
“What our model suggests is that these icebergs get caught up in the currents created by glacial meltwater, and basically surf their way along the coast,” Condron said.
World – Massive plankton blooms with very different ecosystem impacts
“The big mystery about plankton is what controls its distribution and abundance, and what conditions lead to big plankton blooms,” according to the author of a new study. Researchers explore this question and provide examples of conditions that lead to massive plankton blooms with vastly different potential impacts on the ecosystem.
A Clever Robot Spies on Creatures in the Ocean’s ‘Twilight Zone’
Mesobot looks like a giant yellow-and-black AirPods case, only it’s rather more waterproof and weighs 550 pounds. It can operate with a fiber-optic tether attached to a research vessel at the surface, or it can swim around freely.
To Understand How Warming is Driving Harmful Algal Blooms, Look to Regional Patterns, Not Global Trends
Accounts of harmful algal growths have increased over time. So has monitoring, however, making it difficult to tell whether the rise in observations is simply because there is greater awareness of their occurence or if it truly represents a growing ocean threat.
