WHOI in the News
In a major effort to protect endangered whales, state officials plan to ban lobster fishing for several months a year
Moving to ropeless fishing would have “a far more lasting impact in reducing mortality, and equally importantly, the health and hence reproductive success of live animals,” said Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at WHOI.
US DOE Gives $21 Million for Innovative Offshore Wind Technologies
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Massachusetts will collect offshore wind resource data off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and use it to improve atmosphere-ocean simulation tools and reduce uncertainty in offshore wind resource assessment and forecasting.
Deep ocean drilling: Revealing earth history, geological processes and a deep biosphere
Virginia Edgcomb from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discusses deep ocean drilling, a process that reveals earth history, geological processes and a deep biosphere.
UVM commissions $3.9 million hybrid electric/diesel vessel for Lake Champlain research
The winch is operated using a single wireless joystick developed by engineers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The UVM boat will be the first in the world to use this technology.
WHOI Reveals Upgrades to Iconic Submersible Alvin
Increased depth range and the ability to explore 99% of the ocean floor, including the abyssal region—one of the least understood areas of the deep sea—are just some of the upgrades underway for the iconic human-occupied Vehicle (HOV) Alvin that were unveiled today at the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Fall Meeting 2020.
Local Scientists Show Link Between Ocean Pollution And Illness
A new study from Boston College and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution draws some jarring conclusions on the link between ocean pollution and human health.
The Life Aquatic: Falmouth scientists launch downtown brewery
Falmouth scientists launch downtown brewery.
Crystals may help reveal hidden Kilauea Volcano behavior
By leveraging observations of tiny crystals of the mineral olivine formed during a violent eruption that took place in Hawaii more than half a century ago, researchers have found a way to test computer models of magma flow, which they say could reveal fresh insights about past eruptions and possibly help predict future ones.
From north to south pole, climate scientists grapple with pandemic disruptions
Carin Ashjian, a biological oceanographer at WHOI who studies the impact of climate on ecology, was also on the ship then and remembers that “there were a lot of mixed feelings” when news of the pandemic hit them in March. She described how they were both worried about the safety of people back home, while feeling relief that they were protected from the virus by their geographic isolation.
How safe is the water off the coast of the San Onofre nuclear plant?
Surfrider teams with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to conduct their own tests of San Onofre’s radioactive wastewater.
Science is the way forward
By definition, science seeks to avoid bias, remain independent, refute falsehoods, and seek answers based on evidence, reason, and consensus. An editorial writen by Peter de Menocal and Richard W. Murray.
Endangered right whale population down to 360 as they begin migration toward Florida coast
As the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales begin their southward migration from New England and Canada toward the coast of Florida, including Volusia and Flagler counties, researchers are marking the beginning of calving season with uncertainty and urgency.
Sea Ahead
The game-changing technologies that will transform our ability to understand and manage Earth’s last great frontier. Monitoring instruments—and ocean technologies in general—have come a long way. We now have Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled robots that not only allow researchers to access the most remote spots in the ocean, but can decide where to explore once they get there.
Environmental groups will do their own tests of radioactive wastewater from San Onofre
The Surfrider Foundation and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Our Radioactive Ocean initiative will do independent water quality testing at San Onofre State Beach after radioactive wastewater releases from the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Woods Hole Organizations Consider Impact Of Sea Level Rise
WHOI, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and National Marine Fisheries Services presented the Woods Hole village climate change vulnerability assessment and action plan to the Falmouth Select Board on Monday, November 23.
Fishing gear confirmed as major cause of right whale deaths
A major study looking into the deaths of North Atlantic right whales has found that entanglement in fishing gear has become a leading cause of mortality.
Film explores path to right whale’s extinction
In May 2019, the United Nations released a report that said 1 million species on Earth were facing extinction, and that the rate of extinction was accelerating. Boston Globe reporter David Abel said it led him to make the film “Entangled” about the path to extinction for one species people on the Cape know well.
Scientists call for decade of concerted effort to enhance understanding of the deep seas
An international team of scientists, spanning 45 institutions in 17 countries, has called for a dedicated decade-long program of research to greatly advance discovery in these remote regions.
Ocean research group says right whale entanglements hurt animals’ reproductive health
A research group says the rise in the number of fishing-gear entanglements of North American right whales is hurting the animals’ ability to reproduce and care for their young.
Breaking the ice on melting and freezing
“Ice deforms as it melts,” said WHOI physical oceanographer Claudia Cenedese, who has worked with Hester on the project. “It makes these very weird shapes, especially on the bottom, like the way the wind shapes a mountain on a longer time scale.”
The Battle Below
In late September, President Trump declared the U.S. dependence on China for so-called ‘rare earth’ minerals a ‘national emergency’. Those minerals are essential to technology from our phones to our top-level defense weapons. In today’s cover story, Lisa Fletcher takes us on a deep dive, literally, beneath the earth’s surface into the ocean for ‘the battle below.’
Massachusetts Organizations Honored for Efforts to Expand Adoption of Electric Vehicles in the Commonwealth
A diverse group of companies and higher education institutions from across Massachusetts have been recognized for steps they have taken to expand the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in their communities and across the state.
Long-running plankton study to resume off of Maine
A long-running study of tiny organisms off New England is set to resume due to an agreement between scientific organizations. The survey, which originally ran from 1961 to 2017, will resume because of an agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, England.
Ancient storms could help predict future shifts in tropical cyclone hotspots
To get a better sense of how climate change might alter the patterns of major ocean storms, shifting the parameters of tropical cyclone hotspots, scientists reconstructed 3,000-years of storm history in the Marshall Islands.