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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

COP

The case for preserving deep-sea biodiversity

November 7, 2024

WHOI biologist Annette Govindarajan offers her takeaways from the COP16 UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Colombia

Tracking big fish at fine scales

October 9, 2024

Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution track how shortbill spearfish take advantage of local ocean currents when foraging.

unlikely friendships

5 unlikely ocean friendships

May 24, 2024

How certain marine species keep each other safe, fed, and healthy through symbiosis

wind farm

Are offshore wind farms harming whales?

May 9, 2024

WHOI whale biologist Mark Baumgartner weighs in

scallop and starfish

Is underwater construction noise leaving scallops defenseless?

March 7, 2024

Sea scallops expend a lot of energy reacting to noisy pile drivers

News Releases

Ketten

WHOI Biologist Ketten Named AAAS 2012 Fellow

November 29, 2012

Darlene Ketten of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. A marine…

Genetic Patterns of Deep-Sea Coral Provide Insights into Evolution of Marine Life

October 23, 2012

The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists. Understanding and protecting corals requires knowledge of the historical processes…

WHOI Scientists and Engineers Partner with World-Renowned Companies to Market Revolutionary New Instruments

July 19, 2012

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have partnered with two companies to build and market undersea technology developed at WHOI: the Imaging FlowCytobot, an automated underwater microscope, and BlueComm, an underwater communications system that uses light to provide wireless transmission of data, including video imagery, in real or near-real time.

Tiny Protozoa May Hold Key to World Water Safety

December 9, 2010

Right now, it looks a little like one of those plastic containers you might fill with gasoline when your car has run dry. But Scott Gallager is not headed to the nearest Mobil station. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biologist has other, grander plans for his revolutionary Swimming Behavioral Spectrophotometer (SBS), which employs one-celled protozoa to detect toxins in water sources.

Innovative Tagging Technique May Help Researchers Better Protect Fish Stocks

August 7, 2007

Simon Thorrold, a fish ecologist from WHOI, has received a new research grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to use harmless chemical tags to track the dispersal of the larvae of coral reef fishes in the western Pacific Ocean.

News & Insights

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

WHOI working to help save critically endangered North Atlantic right whales

November 10, 2020

North Atlantic right whales are in crisis. There are approximately 356 individuals remaining, and with over 80% bearing scars of entanglements in fishing line, the race to save this species is more critical than ever.