Ocean Resources
Extraordinary Footage of Octopus Garden
Need a break? Sit back, relax, and enjoy this stunning and calming underwater footage from Octopus Garden, two miles below the ocean’s surface in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), where thousands of mother octopuses were discovered nursing their eggs. Meditative soundtrack included.
Read MoreDiving to Octopus Garden in a Submarine
Check out this amazing footage taken from WHOI’s submersible Alvin in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), where thousands of mother octopuses were discovered nursing their eggs in a place known as Octopus Garden. WHOI principal engineer Andy Bowen talks with Chad King, a research specialist with MBNMS, about the animals and how federally-protected marine sanctuaries are critical to the health and protection of these incredible ecosystems.
Read MoreDiscover Octopus Garden
Watch this amazing footage and learn some cool facts about octopus living two miles below the ocean’s surface, where thousands of mother octopuses were discovered nursing their eggs in a place known as Octopus Garden in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS).
Read MoreSelective breeding seaweed
Using a mix of rulers, calipers, and measuring tapes, a dozen scientists—an aquaculture geek squad of sorts—are sizing up thousands of individual kelp blades recently harvested from offshore seaweed farms in New England in order to find the best specimens for selective breeding. It’s a long, exacting process, but for WHOI scientist Scott Lindell, it’s a key step toward turning the ocean crop into a global energy source for the future. The work will enable scientists to breed better kelp—strains that can tolerate the harsh offshore conditions in which they’re grown. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is funding the research, as part of a broader effort aimed at advancing the mass production of seaweed for biofuels. The idea is simple: Grow kelp on a large scale in offshore farms and turn it into biofuels that could one day power millions of homes and cars.
Read MoreImproving lives in East Africa through shellfish aquaculture
Shellfish aquaculture in the coastal waters of East Africa holds great potential to provide a stable, healthy source of protein and as well as new economic opportunities for entire communities, so long as up-to-date knowledge and equipment are available. To date, however, very little shellfish aquaculture is practiced in Zanzibar because of a lack of shellfish hatcheries, which provide shellfish seed to farmers, and a lack of technical knowledge about how to best farm and manage shellfish stocks.
Contribute to ProjectWHOI on behalf of ProjectWHOI Zanzibar:
https://projectwhoi.whoi.edu/home/zanzibar
With the help of this ProjectWHOI fundraiser, Hauke Kite-Powell will be able to increase seed production capacity at the hatchery to about 10 million clam seed per year, which should translate into additional income of $100/year for several hundred shellfish farmers in Zanzibar, many of whom are women supporting families. Hauke will also be able to send staff from U.S. shellfish growing companies supporting this project to Zanzibar to help train hatchery staff and growers. Most importantly, it will support the training of the next generation of hatchery operators and lay the foundation for expanding shellfish aquaculture along the coast of Tanzania and other parts of East Africa.
The funds raised in this campaign will enable Hauke Kite-Powell to supply much-needed equipment to bring the training hatchery up to full capacity and to support the travel of US shellfish farm trainers who will volunteer their time to train local technicians at the hatchery in Zanzibar.
Read MoreThe Lawless High Seas May Soon Gain Protections Under a Groundbreaking Ocean Treaty
The high seas are legally defined as waters that don’t fall under any single nation’s exclusive economic zone. That means they technically belong to everyone. It also means they’re hard to protect against activities like fishing or mining because they’re beyond any single nation’s jurisdiction, explained Porter Hoagland, a senior research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
360˚ Video Time-lapse: Growing Better Biofuels
Check out what it takes to grow great seaweed! Take a 360 tour of WHOI’s Environmental Systems Laboratory as our researchers weigh, measure, and dry kelp from an experimental coastal farm to find out what characteristics could add up to an optimal crop for food, feed, and biofuels.
Read More360˚ Video: Kelp Phenotyping
Using a mix of rulers, calipers, and measuring tapes, a dozen scientists—an aquaculture geek squad of sorts—are sizing up thousands of individual kelp blades recently harvested from offshore seaweed farms in New England in order to find the best specimens for selective breeding. It’s a long, exacting process, but for WHOI scientist Scott Lindell, it’s a key step toward turning the ocean crop into a global energy source for the future.
Read MoreKnow Your Ocean Science Chats: Shellfish Aquaculture: Food and Economic Development in East Africa
Hauke Kite-Powell, Marine Policy Center, WHOI Sponsored by: WHOI Discovery Center & Visitor Center To feed a growing population, the…
Read MoreA new way of “seeing” offshore wind power cables
Eager to share best practices and technical know-how with the offshore wind sector, WHOI researchers test out an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs)—a staple of oceanographic research—to see if it can perform subsea cable surveys faster and more economically than using large and expensive ships.
Read MoreKing Kelp
To help fuel our future energy needs, researchers are sizing up thousands of blades of sugar kelp—a promising source of biofuels—to breed strains that grow larger, heartier, and more abundantly.
Read MoreGlobal Oceans and the Extinction Crisis
WHOI marine biologists Michael Moore and Andrea Bogomolni weigh in on a new United Nations science report suggesting that over one million species are at risk of extinction.
Read MoreSaving the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales
NOAA Names Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to Host Cooperative Institute
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) selected Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to host NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for the…
Read MoreWHOI to Join $94 Million Cooperative Institute
WHOI will join a new consortium led by the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography to support ocean exploration.
Read MoreNews tip: Study of Fishermen, Scientists Partnerships Published
A review paper recently published in the journal Annual Review of Marine Science highlights the value of collaboration between researchers…
Read MoreBlue Economy Urges Collaboration
Ocean Twilight Zone may be key to feeding and protecting life on earth
FAQs
What is deep-sea mining? Deep-sea mining is the proposed extraction of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources from the ocean floor…
Read MoreWho Regulates Seafloor Mining?
The rules that govern mining on most of the world’s seabed are no ordinary rules. They got their start back…
Read MoreSeafloor Mining
Hot, buoyant, mineral-laden fluids rise from deep within ocean crust and mix with cold seawater. That triggers the precipitation of…
Read MoreMarine Protected Areas
What are Marine Protected Areas? Marine protected area (MPA) refers to any part of the ocean that receives some level…
Read MoreOcean Resources
The global ocean provides food, minerals, and other valuable resources for human use.
Read MoreAquaculture
Catching fish without having to go fishing.
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