Ocean Life
Scientists and fishermen team up to film seals in fishing nets
Seals find ease in taking a meal already ensnared in wall-like gillnets cast by fishermen, but at what cost? WHOI biologist Andrea Bogomolni works with the fishing community to record and observe this behavior with the hopes of mitigating marine mammal bycatch
Read MoreA Marine Heatwave Is Warming Up The Ocean Along The East Coast
Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson talks to Glen Gawarkiewicz, an oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, about why the ocean temperatures are warming as well as what it means for ocean life and weather patterns.
Hot ocean waters along East Coast are drawing in ‘weird’ fish and supercharging hurricane season
Warm waters are a major concern with Hurricane Isaias forecast to ride up the Eastern Seaboard. Glen Gawarkiewicz, an oceanographer at WHOI, describes Gulf Stream fish being caught off Block Island, R.I., in January 2017 and increases in the “rate and amount” of species like mahi-mahi passing through.
Scientists revived microbes that were more than 100 million years old
Virginia Edgcomb, a microbial ecologist at WHOI who did not participate in the study, told Science Magazine that the study indicates that “microbial life is very persistent and often finds a way to survive.”
Shark sightings are up, along with ocean temperatures. Here’s what to do if you encounter a shark.
“If they preyed on humans, there would be humans dead everywhere,” said Simon R. Thorrold, a biologist at WHOI in Massachusetts. “It would be a bloodbath out there.”
Biology Department Virtual Seminar:A Eukaryotic Heist: Scalable and Automated Approaches for the Discovery of Eukaryotic Genomes
Harriet Alexander, WHOI Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507947866?pwd=bk5vclFicU5DTWJWdWU4aThzMWJOdz09 Meeting ID: 815 0794…
Read MoreAncient Microbes Spring to Life After 100 Million Years Under the Seafloor
Virginia Edgcomb, a microbial ecologist at WHOI who did not participate in the study, told Science Magazine that the study indicates that “microbial life is very persistent and often finds a way to survive.”
Scientists pull living microbes, possibly 100 million years old, from beneath the sea
Microbes buried beneath the sea floor for more than 100 million years are still alive, a new study reveals. When brought back to the lab and fed, they started to multiply. The microbes are oxygen-loving species that somehow exist on what little of the gas diffuses from the ocean surface deep into the seabed. The new work demonstrates “microbial life is very persistent, and often finds a way to survive,” says Virginia Edgcomb, a microbial ecologist at WHOI who was not involved in the work.
WHOI receives $2.7M from Simons Foundation to study nutrients, microbes that fuel ocean food web
The Simons Foundation has awarded Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists Dan Repeta and Benjamin Van Mooy two grants totaling…
Read MoreWHOI Scientists Make Woods Hole Film Festival Appearance
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists appear in two shorts and a feature film at this year’s Woods Hole Film…
Read MorePhysical Oceanography Department Virtual Seminar: The Influence of an Eddy on Cross-Shelf Transport of Passively Advected or Actively Swimming Biological Organisms
Irina Rypina, WHOI Sponsored by: Physical Oceanography Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82507151086?pwd=NG1ROHpaTFBaRkF2Qkk3U3lXcGpaQT09 Meeting ID: 825…
Read MoreJellyfish larger than blue whales?
Recent accounts in the media have described the appearance of lion’s mane jellyfish in waters and beaches in the Northeast as a surprising, sometimes troubling, event, with record sizes and numbers reported from Maine to the Massachusetts south coast. But is this event noteworthy? Or, as some have implied, is it a sign of failing ocean health? Three WHOI marine biologists weighed in to put events into perspective.
Read MoreBiology Department Virtual Seminar: Application of Metaproteomics for Understanding Marine Microbial Communities and SARS-CoV-2 Detection
Jaci Saunders, WHOI Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually. Information will be posted when available.
Read MoreMC&G Department Virtual Seminar: Insights Into Host-Microbe Specificity, Co-Evolution and Interactions from Marine Mammals
Amy Apprill, WHOI Sponsored by: MC&G Department This will be held virtually. Event address for attendees: https://whoi.webex.com/whoi/onstage/g.php?MTID=e88c0080aecf0a91ac8e9f9e5e422c8f5 Password: chem
Read MoreBiology Department Virtual Seminar – Ocean Deoxygenation: An Emerging Stressor on Coral Reefs
Maggie Johnson, WHOI Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88982828909?pwd=TnkzUHpvc0txMTA1WWViNVZseTVEdz09
Read MoreBottlenose dolphins continue to compensate for humans in spite of pandemic
Though vessel noise may be quieting down on the high seas, one coastal area in Florida is seeing an upswing in boat traffic according to local authorities, putting more pressure on the world’s longest-studied wild bottlenose dolphin community. A recent WHOI study suggests this is only the beginning of a larger trend.
Read MoreScientists are trying to save coral reefs. Here’s what’s working.
Without a mix of long-term cuts in emissions and short-term innovation, there’s a not-so-far-off future where coral reefs as we know them simply cease to exist, says Anne Cohen, a coral expert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
Corals in Crisis – virtual event recording
Worldwide, corals are struggling to survive, decimated by pollution, destructive fishing practices, and climate change. Six years ago, a deadly coral disease outbreak started in Florida and has now made its way to the coral reefs in U.S. Virgin Islands, killing corals at an unprecedented rate. Can scientists help stop this underwater epidemic and contain its spread?
Read MoreNOAA Webinar: Wait! Is that a Real Jellyfish?
Michael Ford, NOAA Fisheries Sponsored by: NOAA with Michael Ford, NOAA Fisheries in Silver Spring, MD Let’s face it. Jellyfish…
Read MoreSpecial WHOI Webinar: Corals in Crisis: How Scientists are Racing to Stop a Deadly Disease
Sylvia Earle,marine biologist, ocean explorer, and conservationist; Marilyn Brandt, University of the Virgin Islands coral disease ecologist; and Amy Apprill,…
Read MoreFishing less could be a win for both lobstermen and endangered whales
A new study found that New England’s historic lobster fishery may turn a higher profit by operating with less gear in the water and a shorter season, which could also benefit endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Read MoreA win for lobstermen and right whales
A study from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found a win for New England’s historic lobster fishery and for endangered right whales. Researchers Hannah Myers and Michael Moore show that even with less gear and a shorter season, fishers in Canada, Maine and Massachusetts caught about the same number of lobsters with much less effort. A change in regulations could protect whales and make the lobster fishery more profitable in the long term.
Read MoreThe Ocean’s Carbon Cycle is Controlled by…Tiny Plankton?
The ocean plays a major role in the global carbon cycle. The driving force comes from tiny plankton that produce organic carbon through photosynthesis, like plants on land.
North Atlantic right whales ‘could be extinct within 20 years’ as krill they eat migrate away due to climate change and commercial fishing impacts their habitat
A comprehensive new study of North Atlantic right whales has found the species is significantly smaller and less healthy than southern right whales and could be wiped out in the next 20 years without intervention.
