WHOI in the News
How a colossal block of ice became an obsession
Woods Hole report identifies concerns, possible solutions for harmful algae blooms
Whales untangled? State contemplates opening closed areas to fishermen using ropeless gear
Because scientists have determined that the human impact on right whales needs to be limited to less than one fatality a year if the species is to avoid extinction, regulators have been unwilling to open closed areas to fishermen, even those using ropeless technology.
11 epic mysteries scientists totally can’t solve
As you dive deeper into the ocean, less and less sunlight shines through, and about 200 meters beneath the surface, you reach an area called the “twilight zone.”
In a record-breaking year of weather, signs of a changed world
However it is measured, these days — in a world that has warmed 1.1°C over preindustrial times, thanks to the burning of fossil fuels — the symptoms of our warmed and warming planet became impossible to ignore in the last year, as extreme events ramped up in frequency and severity across the globe.
11 epic mysteries scientists totally can’t solve
Mayor Bill de Blasio Announces Finalists to Anchor City’s Climate Solutions Center on Governors Island
Mayor Bill de Blasio and The Trust for Governors Island (the Trust) today announced the next steps in the City of New York’s initiative to establish a global Center for Climate Solutions on Governors Island.
The First U.S. Human-Operated Submersible Changed the Course of Oceanography Alvin was built by researchers at Woods Hole
Thanks to Alvin, scientists were able to study the effects of pressure on seafloor microbes and discovered hydrothermal vents that help regulate ocean chemistry and support ecosystems.
A Bright, LED-Lit Future for Ocean Sciences
Recently, there has been a push in the oceanographic community to replace hard-wired, fiber-optic communication tethers connected to instruments with wireless, through-water communications. Think Wi-Fi for the ocean.
From icebergs to smoke, forecasting where dangers will drift
Some of these drift detectives want to know if large icebergs threaten offshore oil platforms. Others hope to track plumes of polluted air or water — and determine where they’re coming from. The work is challenging. It also can be very rewarding.
Ambergris: What fragrant whale excretions tell us about ancient oceans
Ambergris also contains historical information about the oceans, especially the marine species foraged by the whales that produce it. It could even give insights into how these animals might respond to the challenges they face as a result of climate change.
WHOI scientist wrote a book on right whales’ possible extinction. Why you should know him.
In a First, Alaska’s Arctic Waters Appear Poised for Dangerous Algal Blooms
A Critical Ocean Current Is Speeding Up, With Potential Global Consequences
A deadly disease is wiping out coral in Florida and the Caribbean
Researchers are racing to stop stony coral tissue loss disease, which is killing some of the region’s oldest and largest corals.
WHOI Receives Grant for Curious Robot to Study Coral Reef Ecosystems
The team led by WHOI computer scientist Yogesh Girdhar aims to build a robot capable of navigating a reef ecosystem and measuring the biomass, biodiversity, and behavior of organisms living in or passing through a reef over extended periods of time.
Arctic researchers want to state their case before international climate change policy makers
With the Arctic region warming at three times the global rate, profound and rapid change is evident everywhere from the Greenland ice sheet to the ocean ecosystem and the permafrost underlying much of the landmass.
A new ‘blue tech’ lab is coming to MITRE in Bedford
Symposium To Give Residents An Inside Look At Impacts Of Climate Change In Woods Hole
The upcoming symposium is the second in a multi-phased series and will build upon previous assessments of potential impacts of sea-level rise and coastal storms that were introduced during the September 2020 event “Rising Tides: Phase I.”
What Whale Barnacles Know
For generations, these hitchhikers have been recording details about their hosts and their ocean home.
Mysterious rubber bales found along the Texas coast could be from WWII
The objects have been found on the opposite side of the Gulf, too, over in Florida and a bit further to the South.
Scientists Bug STJ Coral Reefs
Climate-change clues contained in whaling logbooks kept in the Providence library
Researchers Caroline Ummenhofer and Timothy Walker are searching through information collected on the Isaac Howland and other 18th-, 19th- and early 20th-century whalers to find clues about how global wind patterns are changing.
The Mystery of Why Our Ancestors Left Africa
How might climate variability have shaped H. erectus? The marine geologist and climate scientist Peter de Menocal, the director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Massachusetts, has studied changes in climate 1.9 million years ago using layers of sediment buried beneath the ocean floor off the coast of East Africa. He points out that “the period of around 2 million years [ago] is one of the major junctures in human evolution.”