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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Puzzling over a mollusk mystery

November 21, 2023

What’s causing a contagious cancer to spread among clams?

iologists Heidi Sosik (left) and Joel Llopiz (right) examine shadowgraph images of plankton

AI in the Ocean Twilight Zone

May 31, 2023

Deep Learning techniques are revealing new secrets about the mesopelagic

right whale in NY Harbor

Keeping an ear out for whales

May 31, 2023

Scientists look to safeguard the mammals with robotic buoys in the New York Bight

Are warming Alaskan Arctic waters a new toxic algal hotspot?

May 31, 2023

WHOI researchers warn Arctic communities following detection of a harmful bloom

Casting a (long) line to the twilight zone food web

January 30, 2023

Scientists and fishermen work together to study key predators in the ocean twilight zone

News Releases

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and partners discover new ocean predator in the Atacama Trench

December 9, 2024

This crustacean is the first large, active predatory amphipod from these extreme depths.

Weddell face

Weddell seals in the Antarctic strategically time their most extreme dives to maximize foraging

October 29, 2024

New research from WHOI and partners sheds light on a novel dive foraging strategy.

Reef Acoustic Playback System

New funding will boost vital reef restoration work

October 2, 2024

Coral Research and Development Accelerator Program funding will advance acoustic enhancement research in the Caribbean

Swimming crustacean eats unlikely food source in the deep ocean

September 11, 2024

Increased capabilities in the human occupied submersible Alvin open a window on a rarely seen behavior.

New harmful algal blooms report

July 23, 2024

Updated national science strategy for harmful algal research and response builds on major accomplishments, findings.

News & Insights

Valentine’s Day Courtship Tips from the Ocean

February 10, 2025

Five courtship tips from ocean lovers By Brady Clarke | February 10, 2025 Looking for new ways to woo your Valentine? Go beneath the surface with these courtship tips from beneath the waves! 1) Fuse bodies This small (about 7.5-centimeter),…

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