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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

The Deepest Divers

The Deepest Divers

July 3, 2007

For years, sperm whales and elephant seals were thought to hold world records for holding their breath under water. But those animals have nothing on beaked whales. Using digital tags temporarily suction-cupped to two species of beaked whales, researchers led…

A Ridge Too Slow?

A Ridge Too Slow?

April 12, 2007

Ever since scientists first discovered vents gushing hot, mineral-rich fluids from the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean 30 years ago, they have found them in various places along the Mid-Ocean Ridge-the 40,000-mile-long seafloor mountain chain where Earth’s giant tectonic plates…

Young Pup Teaches an Old Robot New Tricks

Young Pup Teaches an Old Robot New Tricks

February 21, 2007

Mike Jakuba was still a year away from being born when scientists found vents on the seafloor that gushed hot, mineral-rich fluids and were surrounded by bizarre life forms thriving in the absence of sunlight. Ever since that landmark discovery…

Students Visit the Deep-sea Robot They Named

Students Visit the Deep-sea Robot They Named

October 12, 2006

Seven students from a California high school took a field trip to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in September, after they submitted the winning entry in a nationwide contest to name a new hybrid, deep-sea vehicle under construction at WHOI. The…

Engineers Honored for Pioneering Undersea Robot

Engineers Honored for Pioneering Undersea Robot

October 4, 2006

The engineering team at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that built the first fiber-optically cabled deep-sea robot Jason Jr. received the GlobalSpec Great Moments in Engineering award July 14, 2006—on the 20th anniversary of Jason Jr.’s historic first video survey of…

News Releases

WHOI Scientist Catherine Walker Joins NASA-Selected EDGE Satellite Mission

February 12, 2026

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

Sargassum Patch

Study reveals dramatic decline in historic sargassum populations, with WHOI scientists helping unravel basin-scale changes

December 4, 2025

The findings point to warming ocean temperatures, shifting nutrient regimes, and changing circulation patterns as likely contributors to this emerging basin-scale redistribution of Sargassum.

International research team discovers a potential source of abiotic methane in the Arctic Ocean

November 21, 2025

A distinctive oceanic core complex releasing hot fluids has been identified at a depth of 2,700 meters on the Arctic Ocean’s floor.

WHOI’s Jennifer Johnson receives Fulbright Specialist Award

August 7, 2025

Research Associate will complete a project at the National Fisheries and Marine Research Institute in Angola.

New paper reveals global threat of salt contamination to water supplies in tidal rivers, threatening critical infrastructure

July 29, 2025

Researchers make urgent call for convergent interdisciplinary research to combat worsening crisis

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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