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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

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

Oleander through two rocks

How a cargo ship is tracking hidden ocean life in the Atlantic

May 20, 2026

With funding support from CMA CGM, ocean observations aboard Bermuda Container Line’s M/V Oleander now include a window into microscopic life

Larry Madin and Kelly Sutherland

Tiny drifters, massive impact

March 24, 2026

How salps shuttle carbon to the deep

News Releases

Atlantis and Alvin

Heroic Age Expedition to survey two of the world’s most famous shipwrecks

July 1, 2026

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, in partnership with WHOI, will undertake “once-in-a-generation” expedition to survey Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Quest and Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova

Endangered basking sharks rely on the ocean twilight zone during long-distance migrations

June 3, 2026

A new WHOI study shows basking sharks dive nearly 1,000 meters deep, likely in search of prey

CUREE autonomous underwater vehicle

Autonomous underwater robot discovers hidden coral reef “hotspots”

May 13, 2026

New underwater robot opens new possibilities in coral reef conservation by autonomously identifying biodiversity “hotspots”

Industrial fishing has been depleting midwater fish for decades, new WHOI study finds

May 8, 2026

The research focuses on a poorly understood group of larger midwater fishes that the authors call the “dark web,” species, such as pomfrets and snake mackerels.

New WHOI study cautions that deep-sea fishing could undermine valuable tuna fisheries

January 27, 2026

The study shows that large-scale harvesting of mesopelagic fish that live hundreds of meters below the surface could reduce the food available to bigeye tuna

News & Insights

Paul Caiger hunts for things that glow in the Ocean Twilight Zone

January 14, 2020

Paul Caiger is a fish biologist, marine photographer and postdoctoral investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). From the ghoulish grimace of the viperfish, to the bejeweled beauty of the strawberry squid, Caiger’s marine portraits have helped shine a light in this dark but critical ocean zone.

Sea anemones with jet lag?

December 17, 2019

WHOI scientists investigate the internal body clocks of sea anemones to determine if fluctuating temperatures play a role in their daily rhythms.

Red Sea ‘hotspot’ study reveals behaviors of whale sharks

November 25, 2019

A new study of whale shark movements near a known hotspot in the Red Sea sheds light on their behaviors and could help inform the conservation efforts of the largest known fish, which can reach lengths of 40 feet or more.

Searching for the limits of life: Taylor Heyl

November 7, 2019

A deep-sea biologist discusses her search for life in the deepest parts of our ocean, and why WHOI is the place she has chosen to carry out her research

orpheus

The Rise of Orpheus

November 7, 2019

WHOI’s new deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle moves one step closer to exploring the hadal zone—the deepest region of the ocean—to search for new clues about the limits of life on Earth, and possibly beyond.

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