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Research Highlights

WHOI in the News

Study Estimates Economic Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms on Razor Clam–dependent Community

December 13, 2022

A Rusting Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Yemen Is an Environmental Catastrophe Waiting to Happen. Can Anyone Prevent It?

May 14, 2021

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.

Right Camera Could Protect Endangered Whales

January 8, 2021

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.

Science is the way forward

November 30, 2020

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.

United States Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste

October 25, 2020

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

As illegal fishing rages on, is there any hope on the horizon?

August 9, 2023

WHOI economist Yaqin Liu weighs in on the scourge of illegal fishing and what can be done to catch offenders

Measuring the great migration

September 23, 2021

A bioacoustic mooring will use sound to help estimate life migrating in the ocean’s twilight zone as part of a new long-term observation network in the Atlantic

Uncharted Water

Uncharted Waters

July 16, 2020

Our global ocean will change dramatically over the next few decades. What might it look like, and how will humans adapt?

Forecasting the Future of Fish

Forecasting the Future of Fish

October 29, 2015

How can we weigh all the interrelated factors involved in managing a critical ocean resource? Oceanus magazine experiments with a graphic article to help explain a complex issue.

Recovering After a Hurricane

Recovering After a Hurricane

October 1, 2014

Summer Student Fellow Maya Becker studied how vulnerable four coastal communities were to major hurricanes—and how fast they recovered.

News Releases

Report reveals ‘unseen’ human benefits from ocean twilight zone

January 22, 2020

A new report from researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reveals for the first time the unseen—and somewhat surprising—benefits that people receive from the ocean’s twilight zone. Also known as the “mesopelagic,” this is the ocean layer just beyond the sunlit surface.

Bay State Aquaculture Projects Get Green Light from National Sea Grant Program

Bay State Aquaculture Projects Get Green Light from National Sea Grant Program

October 31, 2017

Two new grants to the Woods Hole Sea Grant program totaling more than $650,000 are part of a national strategic investment in aquaculture and will support research aimed at expanding aquaculture production in Massachusetts.

News & Insights

Harriet Harden-Davies is on the frontlines of ocean policy

March 25, 2021

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

A canoe sits idle in Ulukhaktok, one of several Arctic Inuit communities trying to cope with food insecurity rates that are estimated to be five times the level of food insecurity measured for households in Canada. (Photo by Paul Labn, Oceans North)

Hunger in the Arctic prompts focus on causes, not symptoms

November 5, 2020

As Arctic Inuit communities try to cope with extreme food insecurity, researchers look for answers

Uncharted Water

Uncharted waters

July 16, 2020

Our global ocean will change dramatically over the next few decades. What might it look like, and how will humans adapt?

right whale video

WHOI joins effort to accelerate marine life protection technology

April 22, 2020

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.

Aria Finkelstein crafts policy to help legislators manage the twilight zone

April 15, 2020

Aria Ritz Finkelstein began her career hoping to help craft laws for the management of natural resources on land, until a fateful sailboat convinced her to do it for the sea