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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

lobster trap

Is underwater noise from construction affecting the American Lobster?

July 9, 2026

WHOI’s Sensory Ecology Lab investigates whether an industrialized soundscape impacts the health of a New England icon

Hadal Snailfish

Squishy survivor

June 12, 2026

How the snailfish survives the ocean’s most extreme pressures

Mar de Plata canyon

Answers from the abyss

June 11, 2026

How new discoveries in the deep could change life at the surface

Bathyopsurus-isopod2

A hadal zone mystery solved

June 11, 2026

An upside-down swimming isopod shows how tightly we are connected to the deep ocean

illustration of weddell seal mother in the water

A mother seal dives

June 10, 2026

Follow a Weddell seal as her body adapts to foraging in deep, frigid waters

News Releases

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Wants Everyone to “Keep it Weird”

May 27, 2021

Woods Hole, Mass. (May 27, 2021) – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) wants to keep the ocean twilight zone weird. Known for its rigorous science and advanced engineering, the usually serious WHOI today launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign to draw attention…

Northern Star Coral Study Could Help Protect Tropical Corals

April 13, 2021

Worldwide, coral reefs are in crisis. Researchers at WHOI and Roger Williams University are finding that studying the recovery of this local New England species from a laboratory induced stressor could help better understand how to protect endangered tropical corals around the world.

WHOI and NOAA Release Report on U.S. Socio-economic Effects of Harmful Algal Blooms

April 7, 2021

Woods Hole, Mass. – Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur in all 50 U.S. states and many produce toxins that cause illness or death in humans and commercially important species. However, attempts to place a more exact dollar value on the…

WHOI and NOAA Fisheries Release New North Atlantic Right Whale Health Assessment Review

February 25, 2021

North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered and declining. Climate change, vessel strikes, entanglements and noise engender poor health and reproductive failure, and are major threats to individuals and the species. Trauma reduction measures and applying new tools to assess and enhance their health, are critically important.

CINAR Fellows in Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystems Science Announced

December 18, 2020

The Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR), led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center are pleased to announce the appointment of five CINAR Fellows in Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystems Science: Daniel Cullen…

News & Insights

Florida’s ocean economy depends on science

August 29, 2025

WHOI’s Dennis McGillicuddy on why ocean life matters deeply to the Sunshine State

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!

Two North Atlantic right whales skim feeding

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…

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