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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

A Titanic Tale

A Titanic Tale

September 2, 2010

<!– –> In June of 1985, news came that Bob Ballard aboard the research vessel Knorr had found the RMS Titanic. Almost immediately, the rumors started that an expedition from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) would go back to the…

A Robot Is Resurrected at Sea

A Robot Is Resurrected at Sea

May 5, 2010

Barely a month after the undersea robot ABE imploded and was lost in the depths, ABE’s “son,” Sentry, suffered fire and flooding that destroyed critical internal components. But a team of engineers rallied to rebuild its electronics at sea and…

R.I.P.  A.B.E

R.I.P.  A.B.E

March 19, 2010

A pioneering deep-sea exploration robot—one of the first successful submersible vehicles that was both unmanned and untethered to surface ships—was lost at sea March 5, 2010, on a research expedition off the coast of Chile. The Autonomous Benthic Explorer, affectionately…

A Robot Starts to Make Decisions on its Own

A Robot Starts to Make Decisions on its Own

February 22, 2010

It’s a lot easier to send a bloodhound to track a criminal, or your kid to pick up groceries, than it is to get a deep-sea robot to find something on the seafloor. The dog will pick up the scent…

The Squid, the Whale, and the Grad Student

The Squid, the Whale, and the Grad Student

February 19, 2010

On the Serengeti Plains of Africa, lions stalk their prey mainly by sight. Scientists studying them also use their eyes to observe the hunt and indeed the entire ecosystem. They can take in the whole panorama, easily distinguishing lions from…

News Releases

New global efforts to map and monitor kelp forests extend to South Africa and Namibia

April 30, 2025

A new expansion of kelpwatch.org, brings over 40 years of satellite-derived kelp canopy data to South Africa and Namibia, offering new insights into these vital underwater forest ecosystems.

‘Fishial’ recognition: Neural network identifies coral reef sounds

March 11, 2025

Faster identification of fish sounds from acoustic recordings can improve research, conservation efforts

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution identify heat-resistant kelp strain

February 10, 2025

A new strain of kelp can help support sustainable farming

Nereid Under Ice

WHOI vehicles go to extreme sides of the globe

December 10, 2024

Simultaneous missions near Greenland and American Samoa support critical research about ocean life and sea level rise

Multi-disciplinary teams respond to recent hurricanes to measure real time impacts of storm surge, waves

November 15, 2024

A joint team, including WHOI researchers, recently mobilized to investigate the real-time impacts of storm surge and waves from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

News & Insights

WHOI builds bridges with Arctic Indigenous communities

February 10, 2021

NSF program fosters collaboration between indigenous communities and traditional scientists, allowing WHOI’s autonomous vehicles to shed light on a changing Arctic

WHOI-assisted study finds ocean dumping of DDT waste was “sloppy”

October 29, 2020

An investigative report this week in the LA Times features the work of WHOI’s marine geochemistry lab in identifying the discarded barrels and analyzing samples from the discovery.