WHOI in the News
INCOIS to go for airline mapping of ocean floor
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is planning to take the help of the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for airline mapping of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshwadeep to get a better picture of the ocean floor, also called ‘bathymetric’ study.
Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star completes 12-week deployment in Bering Strait region
The U.S. Coast Guard’s sole heavy icebreaker, Polar Star, recently broke the nation’s 40-year winter absence from icy waters above the Arctic Circle while on a 12-week deployment to the Bering Strait region.
Follow the smell of the ocean to find where marine predators feed
‘Ropeless’ Lobster Fishing Could Save The Whales. Could It Kill The Industry?
Some open ocean waters teeming with an abundance of life
Since Charles Darwin’s day, the abundance of life on coral reefs has been puzzling, given that most oceanic surface waters in the tropics are low in nutrients and unproductive.
Seattle-based Coast Guard icebreaker returns home after first mission in nearly 40 years to wintertime Arctic
Study reveals energy sources supporting coral reef predators
The scientists believe that this offshore energy may be entering the food web through lower-level plankton feeding fish that the groupers are then feeding on. This is likely to be supported by inputs of nutrient-rich deep water, which are little understood.
Mauritius oil spill: questions mount over ship fuel safety
Unexpected life is discovered in a deep, dark Antarctic world
Quantum-enabled scanner will boost our understanding of brain function, doing research 6.5 km under the ocean’s surface
Soule talks to Physics World’s James Dacey about doing science in the Alvin submersible vehicle, which is currently be refurbished to allow it to reach the astonishing depth of 6.5 km.
On the line
Life Is Tough for Teenage Parasites
In my personal opinion, the greatest coming-of-age story on Earth does not take place in a Dickens novel or a Disney movie, but rather in a white fish at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
See a Tampa scientist’s views of mysterious Greenland ice holes
Using ropes, researchers explore chambers hundreds of feet below the surface of the Greenland ice sheet.
Study: Acidic ocean could devastate Cape Cod and Islands shellfish industry
Researchers discover an immense hydrocarbon cycle in the world’s ocean
Hydrocarbons and petroleum are almost synonymous in environmental science. After all, oil reserves account for nearly all the hydrocarbons we encounter. But the few hydrocarbons that trace their origin to biological sources may play a larger ecological role than scientists originally suspected.
UMass Amherst researcher sees good news for dam removal in Western Massachusetts
Rare whales spotted east of Boston; protection urged
The whales are North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 360 in the world.
All Quiet Under the Algal Bloom
The culprit behind Florida’s red tides is the alga Karenia brevis. Near-annual blooms release toxins that harm marine animals and linger in the air, causing people on the coast to wheeze and cough. Little is known about what influences a red tide’s timing and severity, and tracking its impacts is expensive, time-consuming, and risky.
Douglas Webb: Tinkerer, Engineer And Oceanographer Emeritus
Douglas C. Webb, the founder of Teledyne Webb Research, North Falmouth, has received an honorary appointment to the position of Oceanographer Emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for his role in advancing knowledge of the Earth’s oceans.
Taking the Lab into the Ocean with Autonomous Robotic Fleets
Autonomous robotic fleets enable researchers to observe complex systems in ways that are otherwise impossible with purely ship-based or remote sensing techniques. In a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is reducing opportunities for researchers to go to sea, autonomous fleets offer an effective way to maintain a persistent presence in features of interest.
Tracking the deep chlorophyll maximum with sea-faring robots
The research team was particularly interested in the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) layer. Also known as the subsurface chlorophyll maximum, the DCM exists below the surface of the ocean and holds the maximum concentration of chlorophyll, thus playing an important ecological role in the open ocean.
The Autonomous Saildrone Surveyor Preps for Its Sea Voyage
The robo-vessel will map the ocean floor, and its solar-powered sensors will sample fish DNA and collect climate data.
USNA MIDSHIPMEN SELECTED FOR MIT/WHOI JOINT PROGRAM
The Joint Program offers a deep knowledge of ocean processes, ocean vehicles and instrumentation, acoustics, and signal processing, and seeks to enhance understanding and application of operational oceanography as it pertains to the undersea warfare domain.
The Plan to Build a Global Network of Floating Power Stations
A lot of thermal energy is trapped in the ocean. An ex-NASA researcher has figured out how it might generate unlimited clean power for aquatic robots.