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Research Highlights

Sea Level Rise Image

Is sea-level rise exaggerated?

September 19, 2022
The Thames River used to freeze over in winters during the Little Ice Age, providing thick enough ice to support large outdoor festivals known as frost fairs. (Image courtesy of Rijks Museum) BY ELISE HUGUS | SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 Estimated reading time: 4 minutes Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin

Are we heading toward another Little Ice Age?

September 19, 2022
Isabela Le Bras

Waiting on the next freshwater flush

August 25, 2022
An Arctica islandica shell perches on the railing of the ESS Pursuit during a research cruise in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, south of the Gulf of Maine. A new WHOI co-led study finds that rapid Gulf of Maine warming has reversed long-term cooling that occurred there within the last 900 years. Image credit: Nina Whitney/ © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine reverses 900 years of cooling

August 8, 2022
Fishers from the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation/WHOI Shelf Research Fleet prepare to collect data using an instrument that measures temperature and salinity. This work gives rise to WHOI-led study that shows an increase in warm water intrusions along the Mid-Atlantic Bight. (From L to R: Sean Daly, Victor Garcia, Jay Winchenbach) Image credit: Jim Violet

Mid-depth waters off the United States East Coast are getting saltier

July 6, 2022
A recent study co-led by WHOI found that the Azores High has expanded dramatically in the past century, resulting from a warming climate due to a rise in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. Researchers associated with the study collect data inside the Buraca Gloriosa cave in western Portugal, a site of the stalagmite hydroclimate proxy record. Image credit: Diana Thatcher/ © Iowa State University

Scientists link the changing Azores High and the drying Iberian region to anthropogenic climate change

July 5, 2022
Northern shortfin squid (Illex illecebrosus) actively feeding on a large swarm of crustaceans during dive 3 of the Deep Connections 2019 expedition. (Image courtesy of NOAA)

Squid Games

June 28, 2022
(Image courtesy of Deb Ehrens.)

Creating synergy through art and science

June 13, 2022
The M/V Bulk Xaymaca will work with WHOI’s Science RoCS program on its route between Jamaica and New Orleans, beginning this spring, to capture data such as the speed of ocean currents and the air temperature, humidity, and sea level pressure, which helps scientists forecast weather and understand climate changes. This route will provide observations in the Gulf of Mexico as it crosses the Loop Current and its rich ocean eddy field. Photo credit: Kerry Strom ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

WHOI & Pangaea Logistics Solutions to advance ocean science data acquisition through Science RoCS program

April 11, 2022
Gulf of Mexico surface waves forming in front of a sunset. Photo by Chris Linder © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

WHOI-led team awarded $7.6M to support Gulf of Mexico Loop Current research

March 25, 2022
A man with glasses and blonde hair holds a rectangular black box. His reflection can be seen opposite his face.

OCIA: Accelerating the pace of ocean-climate research

March 23, 2022
Bluefin tuna are the largest of all tuna species - adults can reach ten feet in length and weigh more than a thousand pounds. But they start out small, as 2- to 3-millimeter-long larvae. This one was caught by Chrissy Hernandez in the Slope Sea, a region of the Atlantic Ocean between the between the U.S. continental shelf and the Gulf Stream farther offshore. The area is a newly-recognized spawning ground for western Atlantic bluefin tuna - more good news for a species whose population in the Gulf of Mexico is sustainably managed with a limited harvest. Photo by Chrissy Hernandez © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Evidence Bolsters Classification of a Major Spawning Ground for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Off the Northeast U.S.

March 3, 2022
Rob Walz works aboard his fishing vessel the <em>Finast Kind II</em> for the WHOI-CFRF Shelf Fleet Program. (Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation). (Daniel Cojanu, © Woods Hole Oceanographic)

Ocean data gives Northeast fishermen an edge against a warming ocean

January 3, 2022
The 82-foot-long S/V Iris arrived at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution dock after a three week journey across the Atlantic, and moored next to WHOI’s R/V Armstrong. The Iris departed Woods Hole on December 14 and will spend the next two months deploying approximately 78 Argo floats in the South Atlantic, before finishing its epic voyage back in Brest, France. © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

New ocean floats to boost global network essential for weather, climate research

December 15, 2021
Gulf Stream flounder and Black Sea bass caught near Block Island, RI. An unusual catch, but the reason it was found so far up north is likely due to a warm water intrustion caused by ocean eddies and wind, explained in a new WHOI-led study. Image credit: Mike Marchetti (inshore scallop fisherman)

Tropical fish…up north? How ocean physics play a role in altering water temperature and salinity

December 10, 2021
anthony and megan

From the sound: A future powered by the sea

December 8, 2021
Marine ecologist Amy Apprill deploys an underwater listening device, or single-channel hydrophone, to analyze the soundscape of a reef in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Photo by Paul Caiger, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

A coral reef kickstart

November 23, 2021
Mr.-Crabs

Burrows on the beach

October 26, 2021