Research Highlights
Oceanus Magazine
An article about work done by WHOI postdoctoral investigator Stephanie Watwood to analyze atypical sounds made by two African elephants, one imitating a truck and one the calls of another elephant species
The historic bloom of toxic algae that blanketed New England’s waters and halted shellfishing from Maine to Martha’s Vineyard in the spring of 2005 is over. But scientists are now wondering if there will be an encore.
Before departing, the algae likely left behind a colonizing population that may promote blooms in southern New England for at least the next few years.
People may search for a long time, but they know it when they see it—the right job in the right town, or the right house in the right neighborhood. Then they settle down, set up shop, and put down roots.…
Third generation of scientists finds third generation of hydrothermal vent sites.
Coastal resource managers shut down shellfish beds in three New England states in mid-May—including rare closures of Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay—because of an intense bloom of the toxic algae Alexandrium fundyense. Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution saw the ‘red tide’ coming before its toxic effects reached the shore.
News Releases
WHOI scientists delve into the elusive fish’s role in the food web
While the impacts of plastic pollution on human health and the environment are growing, the report finds, increasing harm due to plastics is not inevitable.
Filter-feeding whales sample the Arctic food web, tracking decades of change
Differences in brain structure between echolocating and non-echolocating marine mammals offers insight into auditory processing
WHOI researchers part of collaborative, international effort to increase Marine Protected Areas and other strategies
News & Insights
WHOI’s Dennis McGillicuddy on why ocean life matters deeply to the Sunshine State
Are you an ocean lover? Go a little deeper with these courtship tips from beneath the waves!
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.
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.
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…