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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

WHOI reef solutions field team

Inside the Solomon Islands’ hidden mega coral — a 300-year-old ocean giant

November 19, 2025

WHOI’s Reef Solutions team journeys to the world’s largest coral colony

blue straws

Breaking down plastics together

November 6, 2025

Through a surprising and successful partnership, WHOI and Eastman scientists are reinventing what we throw away

underwater coral

Reef RX

November 3, 2025

Using human health protocols to find and aid ailing reefs

ocean and swimmer

The Ocean (Re)Imagined

October 16, 2025

How expanding our view of the ocean can unlock new possibilities for life

blue mud lab

Secrets from the blue mud

September 22, 2025

Microbes survive—and thrive—in caustic fluids venting from the seafloor

News Releases

WHOI’s Ken Buesseler named Geochemistry Fellow

February 15, 2022

Dr. Ken Buesseler has been selected as a Geochemistry Fellow by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.

Ben Van Mooy awarded by Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography

February 10, 2022

WHOI senior scientist and Dept. Chair honored for phosphorus and lipid cycling research

Study finds bio-based cellulose acetate plastic used in consumer goods disintegrates in ocean much faster than assumed

December 8, 2021

Woods Hole, MA – Cellulose diacetate (CDA), a bio-based plastic widely used in consumer goods, disintegrates, and degrades in the ocean far quicker than previously assumed, according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. “These findings…

Study outlines challenges to ongoing clean-up of burnt and unburnt nurdles along Sri Lanka’s coastline

November 29, 2021

When a fire broke out on the deck of the M/V XPress Pearl cargo ship on May 20, 2021, an estimated 70-75 billion pellets of preproduction plastic material, known as nurdles, spilled into the ocean and along the Sri Lankan coastline. That spill of about 1,500 tons of nurdles, many of which were burnt by the fire, has threatened marine life and poses a complex clean-up challenge. A new peer-reviewed study characterizes how the fire modified the physical and chemical properties of the nurdles and proposes that these properties affected their distribution along the coast.

“Mantle wind” blows through slab window beneath Panama

November 19, 2021

Woods Hole, MA – Volcanic gases are helping researchers track large-scale movements in Earth’s deep interior. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists, together with a group of international collaborators, have discovered anomalous geochemical compositions beneath Panama. This interdisciplinary team used…

News & Insights

What happens to natural gas in the ocean?

October 6, 2022

WHOI marine chemist Chris Reddy weighs in on a methane leak in the Baltic Sea

Wave Glider provides gateway to remote exploration

November 10, 2020

WHOI geochemist Chris German pairs an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) called a Wave Glider with other vehicles to expand research here and on other Ocean Worlds

Sea Dust

Mining ancient dust from the ocean’s loneliest spot

September 24, 2020

Researchers investigate dust from the ocean’s farthest point from land to reconstruct the climactic history of the Southern Hemisphere, and understand how micronutrients have influenced biological productivity in this oceanic desert.

Working from Home: Mallory Ringham

July 2, 2020

WHOI-MIT joint program student outfits her basement to do vital work on a marine carbon sensor

plastics by the numbers

The many lifetimes of plastics

June 15, 2020

Infographics strive to give us a sense of how long plastic goods will last in the environment. But is this information reliable? The findings of a new study from WHOI may surprise you.

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