Research Highlights
WHOI in the News
Viviane Menezes, a marine scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, has described the Red Sea as being like a “big lagoon” with “everything connected.” An oil spill at any time of year would be disastrous, she says, but seasonally variable weather and tidal patterns make contingency planning difficult. In the summer, Red Sea currents would drag an oil slick south, threatening Eritrea and Djibouti, and potentially entering the Gulf of Aden. In winter, circular currents would swirl more of the oil north.
Scientist hopes his smart system can reduce ship collisions with North Atlantic right whales. A new technology on the horizon may help to reduce one of those threats, however.
By definition, science seeks to avoid bias, remain independent, refute falsehoods, and seek answers based on evidence, reason, and consensus. An editorial writen by Peter de Menocal and Richard W. Murray.
MPC Research Specialist, Hauke Kite-Powell, has recently been appointed to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee to study U.S. contributions to global ocean plastic waste.
Oceanus Magazine
The first part of biogeochemist John Martin’s famous prediction—“Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age”—has been proved partly right: Iron is the only thing standing in the way of plankton blooms in some…
Most of the ocean food chain is too small to see, but that doesn’t mean the effects of iron fertilization will be, too. “The purpose, if one is going to do iron fertilization, is to increase the amount of marine…
In this age of satellites, it’s fairly easy to answer the basic question of whether adding iron to the ocean can stimulate a plankton bloom. When storms over land blow iron-rich dust into the sea, satellite images show marbled swaths…
“Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age” may rank as the catchiest line ever uttered by a biogeochemist. The man responsible was the late John Martin, former director of the Moss Landing…
A new study by a WHOI scientist and a former lobsterman suggests a provocative lobster management strategy that offers economic benefits to the lobster fishermen, while invigorating lobster stocks.
News Releases
Woods Hole is stop on state-wide climate innovation road show
Research led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution predicts lower fishing yields as corals struggle to survive
WHOI and partners pen Baku Declaration, emphasizing the need for ocean observatories to meet climate and biodiversity goals at COP29
Leading science institutions and partners will make the case for greater inclusion of the ocean at COP29
New report released during NY Climate Week and upcoming UN General Assembly high-level plenary meeting on threats posed by sea level rise
News & Insights
Harriet Harden-Davies has spent more than 10 years working in the marine policy arena and is now aiding in major U.N. negotiations on laws governing the high seas
As Arctic Inuit communities try to cope with extreme food insecurity, researchers look for answers
Our global ocean will change dramatically over the next few decades. What might it look like, and how will humans adapt?
WHOI has teamed up with Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind to launch the Offshore Wind Challenge. The program, which is also partnering with New England Aquarium, calls on entrepreneurs to submit proposals to collect, transmit, and analyze marine mammal monitoring data using remote technologies, such as underwater vehicles, drones, and offshore buoys.
Shellfish aquaculture is thriving in New England, but future growth in the industry could be stunted as coastal waters in the region become more acidic. Researchers at WHOI have developed a way to link nutrient load reductions to improvements in the health of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, which may an important step toward cleaner and less acidic harbors in the Baystate.