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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Sonic Sharks

April 23, 2025

The predators may not be a silent as once thought

A rare black seadevil anglerfish sees the light

March 20, 2025

A viral video shows a denizen of the ocean’s twilight zone making an unusual trip to the surface

How will we ever count them all?

January 30, 2025

WHOI biologist Francesco Ventura recounts a conservation win for sea turtles in remote Guinea-Bissau

Five marine animals that call shipwrecks home

January 23, 2025

One man’s sunken ship is another fish’s home? Learn about five species that have evolved to thrive on sunken vessels

zoo

Deep-sea amphipod name inspired by literary masterpiece

December 19, 2024

Name pays tribute to Cervantes’ Don Quixote and reinforces themes of sweetness and beauty

News Releases

Innovative, new “road map” for kelp crop improvement

June 24, 2022

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Connecticut, and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have executed a license agreement for a kelp germplasm, or collection of microscopic cells called gametophytes, containing more than 1,200 samples all developed and isolated by WHOI and UConn-led teams. Bigelow Laboratory’s National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota plans to maintain, market, and distribute the germplasm collection for broad use.

WHOI campaign sheds light on new strategies and solutions for the coral reef crisis

May 26, 2022

In advance of World Ocean Day on June 8, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is launching its Give Reefs a Chance campaign, aimed at raising awareness of what WHOI scientists and engineers are doing to tackle the corals crisis, the importance of coral reefs, and what we can all do to give reefs a chance to survive.

WHOI scientists receive 2022 Simons Early Career Investigator Awards

May 12, 2022

Two Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists have received prestigious Simons Early Career Investigator in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution Awards. Maria Pachiadaki and Harriet Alexander are both assistant scientists at WHOI, focusing on different aspects of microbial ecology.

Smaller female North Atlantic right whales, fewer calves

May 12, 2022

The declining body size of North Atlantic right whales may have critical consequences for the future of the species. New research, co-authored by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s senior scientist Michael Moore, shows that smaller females produce fewer calves.

Fluid Flow Stimulates Chemosynthesis in a Greek Salad of Hydrothermal Microbes

April 22, 2022

A new study uses an innovative approach to examine the bay’s shallow-water hydrothermal system and the production of microbes there in situ and near natural conditions as a model to assess the importance of hydrothermal fluid circulation on chemosynthesis.

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