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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Bringing a Lab to the Seafloor

Bringing a Lab to the Seafloor

December 24, 2014

Scientists can’t really know if new oceanographic instruments will really work until they try them in actual conditions in the real ocean. In this case, the rubber hit the road at the bottom of the sea.

The Waves Within the Waves

The Waves Within the Waves

December 18, 2014

If the 30-foot wave we were looking for had tumbled across the ocean’s surface that July day, it might have been mistaken for a monstrous rogue wave. But that’s not where this wave rolled. This wave surged within the ocean—deep…

Trouble in the Tropics

Trouble in the Tropics

November 26, 2014

An MIT-WHOI graduate student is on the trail of marine toxins that accumulate in fish and are eaten by people.

Big Questions About Tiny Bacteria

Big Questions About Tiny Bacteria

November 3, 2014

It’s 3 a.m., and Jesse McNichol is struggling to stay awake. Since midafternoon, he’s been in his lab, tending to a jumble of glassware, plastic tubing, and metal cylinders filled with microbes. He sighs, rubs his bloodshot eyes, and heads…

It's Hard to Kill a Killifish

It’s Hard to Kill a Killifish

October 1, 2014

Summer Student Fellow Lily Helfrich is using a new molecular tool, microRNA analysis, to explore why some killifish are able to thrive in waters heavily contaminated with PCBs.

News Releases

Tica hydrothermal vent

Scientists in Alvin Witness Seafloor Eruption on the East Pacific Rise

May 2, 2025

Long-awaited event sets the stage for scientists to learn more about physical, chemical and biological processes in the deep ocean East Pacific Rise, Pacific Ocean (May 2, 2025)  – Scientists diving in the human-occupied vehicle Alvin recently witnessed a rare…

Jeff Adams

Researchers to map the genome of the invasive European green crab

April 2, 2025

Washington Sea Grant will work with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to shed light on a highly invasive species

Mark Hahn March 2025

WHOI’s Mark Hahn named AAAS Fellow

March 27, 2025

American Association for the Advancement of Science welcomes 471 scientists and engineers in the class of 2024

Emperor Penguins

New Study Calls for Uplisting Emperor Penguins to Threatened on IUCN Red List

March 25, 2025

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution among research groups that offer findings to support protection of species

‘Fishial’ Recognition: Neural Network Identifies Coral Reef Sounds

March 11, 2025

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

News & Insights

Valentine’s Day Courtship Tips from the Ocean

February 10, 2025

Are you an ocean lover? Go a little deeper with these courtship tips from beneath the waves!

Recognizing Massachusetts Right Whale Day

April 24, 2023

April 24 marks the first-ever Right Whale Day in Massachusetts. WHOI biologist and veterinarian Michael Moore recently met with the resident who brought this special recognition about– and explains why it’s important to raise awareness about the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Getting Smaller, New Research Finds

June 10, 2021

A report out this week in Current Biology reveal that critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are up to three feet shorter than 40 years ago. This startling conclusion reinforces what scientists have suspected: even when entanglements do not lead directly to the death of North Atlantic right whales, they can have lasting effects on the imperiled population that may now number less than 400 animals. Further, females that are entangled while nursing produce smaller calves.

right whales

Rare Drone video shows critically endangered North Atlantic right whales

May 10, 2021

May 10, 2021   During a joint research trip on February 28 in Cape Cod Bay, Mass., WHOI whale trauma specialist Michael Moore, National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry, and scientists from New England Aquarium, witnessed a remarkable biological event: North…

Unicorns of the Arctic face a new potential threat

December 1, 2020

Narwhals and other marine mammals could be vulnerable to a new threat we’ve become all too familiar with: COVID-19