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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Jason Meets the Carnivorous Sea Squirt

Jason Meets the Carnivorous Sea Squirt

April 3, 2009

Tito Collasius, an engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has witnessed some of oceanography’s more celebrated moments, including the discovery of the Titanic and the eruption of undersea volcanoes. But on expedition south of Tasmania that ended in January 2009,…

A Deep-sea Chemical-Sniffing Bloodhound

A Deep-sea Chemical-Sniffing Bloodhound

December 30, 2008

<!– –> Researchers can learn complicated things from some of the simplest animals in the ocean. Case in point: Rich Camilli’s work on sponges near Aquarius, an undersea laboratory 63 feet below the ocean surface in the Florida Keys National…

The Turtle and the Robot

The Turtle and the Robot

December 19, 2008

Stephen Licht built an unusual underwater robot with a curious name. With a wink toward James Joyce, he named it Finnegan, because he was particularly interested in studying the wake made by the robot as it moved through water. Instead…

A Tag Fit for a Porpoise

A Tag Fit for a Porpoise

November 13, 2008

In 2003, Stacy DeRuiter arrived as a graduate student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), where a new device developed at WHOI was sparking a revolution in marine mammal research: the D-tag. The cell phone-size digital recording device—affixed temporarily (and…

Building the Next-Generation Alvin Submersible

Building the Next-Generation Alvin Submersible

November 10, 2008

Three times geologist Adam Soule has climbed inside the deep-diving submersible Alvin and headed to the seafloor. Geochemist Susan Humphris stopped counting after 30 dives. Dan Fornari, who studies deep-sea volcanoes, has descended more than 100 times. Yet for all…

News Releases

Eastern oysters

Tiny oyster larvae rely on gravity to feed

September 16, 2026

High-speed imaging reveals how oyster larvae’s dense shell helps them feed—and may offer clues to why ocean acidification threatens their survival

Expedition captures first detailed imagery of Robert Falcon Scott’s last ship, Terra Nova, using cutting-edge Canadian Voyis 3D technology

July 14, 2026

The Heroic Age Expedition, led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, reveals the famed Antarctic explorer’s last ship, Terra Nova in stunning detail

Atlantis and Alvin

Heroic Age Expedition to survey two of the world’s most famous shipwrecks

July 1, 2026

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, in partnership with WHOI, will undertake “once-in-a-generation” expedition to survey Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Quest and Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova

CUREE autonomous underwater vehicle

Autonomous underwater robot discovers hidden coral reef “hotspots”

May 13, 2026

New underwater robot opens new possibilities in coral reef conservation by autonomously identifying biodiversity “hotspots”

WHOI Scientist Catherine Walker Joins NASA-Selected EDGE Satellite Mission

February 12, 2026

Satellite measuring land, polar, and coastal regions could launch by 2030

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.

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