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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

WHOI senior scientist Dennis McGillicuddy holds a jarred Sargassum sample

How do you solve a problem like Sargassum?

July 16, 2025

An important yet prolific seaweed with massive blooms worries scientists

Elizabeth Spiers

Grits, storms, and cosmic patience

May 29, 2025

As storms stall liftoff, Europa Clipper Mission Team member Elizabeth Spiers patiently awaits the biggest mission of her life

kelp farming

Seeding the future

May 21, 2025

New WHOI tech lends a hand to kelp farmers

Julia Guimond (Photo by Brady Clarke © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.)

Cold, quiet, and carbon-rich: Investigating winter wetlands

May 7, 2025

A hydrologist takes on a groundbreaking study to understand how groundwater moves through New England salt marshes in the winter.

mROV concept rendering

New underwater vehicles in development at WHOI

April 30, 2025

New vehicles will be modeled after WHOI’s iconic remotely operated vehicle, Jason

News Releases

Research Submersible Alvin Completes Depth Certification to 4500 Meters

March 10, 2015

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) announces that the Human Occupied Vehicle (HOV) Alvin has achieved certification from the U. S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) for operations to its rated depth of 4,500 meters (approx. 2.8 miles).   Two dives were conducted in the waters off Arica, Chile, on January 26-27 from the research vessel Atlantis, demonstrating vehicle performance in accordance with the specified metrics required for certification.  NAVSEA representatives were on hand to monitor the process and participate in the dives. 

REMUS SharkCam Captures Upclose Encounters with Great Whites

August 11, 2014

When a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) took a specially equipped REMUS SharkCam underwater vehicle to Guadalupe Island in Mexico to film great white sharks in the wild, they captured more than they bargained for.

Iconic Research Submersible Alvin Turns 50

June 5, 2014

We know more about the surface of other planets than we do about Earth’s ocean. And what is known about our ocean would not have been possible without the deep-sea submersible Alvin, one of the hardest working, most reliable vehicles…

Robotic Deep-sea Vehicle Lost on Dive to 6-Mile Depth

May 10, 2014

On Saturday, May 10, 2014, at 2 p.m. local time (10 pm Friday EDT), the hybrid remotely operated vehicle Nereus was confirmed lost at 9,990 meters (6.2 miles) depth in the Kermadec Trench northeast of New Zealand. The unmanned vehicle was working as part of a mission to explore the ocean’s hadal region from 6,000 to nearly 11,000 meters when a portion of it likely imploded.

 

Deep-Diving Sub Alvin Cleared to Return to Service

January 24, 2014

After a three-year overhaul and major upgrade, the United States’ deepest-diving research submersible, Alvin, has been cleared to return to work exploring the ocean’s depths.

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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