Multimedia Items
What is a rogue wave?
Behemoth waves are more than just folklore. Learn the science behind these deadly swells.
Read MoreHow do corals form colonies?
If you stare at just one spot on a coral reef, your eyes could be seeing more than 1,000 animals per square foot. That’s because the thing that makes up most of these marine ecosystems are tiny living animals called coral polyps, which exist on the surface of reef formations. Hundreds or thousands of identical polyps live together to form a colony. So, how do these tiny creatures build and maintain such large colonies?
Read MoreWhere does all the carbon go?
Like car windows on a sunny day, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases help trap the sun’s heat, keeping it close to Earth’s surface. To an extent, this is a good thing. Without that warming, Earth would be a ball of ice. But too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means too much warming. The key to preventing runaway climate change is to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but where can it go?
Read MoreWhat are marine microplastics?
A 2015 study estimated that roughly eight million tons of plastics enter the world’s oceans each year, yet only one percent is found floating at the surface in visible form. This suggests that the bulk of plastics in the ocean are likely microplastics suspended in the water or buried in sediments—yet scientists are only beginning to understand where they might be, not to mention their potential impacts on ocean life, ecosystems, and human health.
Read More7 Places ALVIN can now explore
Deep-Sea Sub ALVIN’s Top 7 Exploration Bucket List
Read MoreA robot to explore the dark ocean!
We designed Mesobot, our new hybrid robot, specifically to study life in the ocean twilight zone. It can maneuver under its own power for more than 24 hours, using its cameras and lights to slowly follow individual animals while making a variety of other measurements and even taking samples.
Read MoreHow does the ocean impact hurricanes?
Hurricanes are the most powerful storms on the planet, spanning hundreds of miles. We know them for the destruction they cause when they reach land. Their high winds, heavy rains, and storm surges cause billions of dollars in damage each year. But the effects of hurricanes aren’t limited to landfall. They have an outsized impact on the ocean, as well.
Read MoreDrawing of Porpita lutkeana by Henry Bigelow
Because their bodies have no hard parts, gelatinous animals, commonly called “jellies,” have always been fascinating and elusive to naturalists. They were already a favorite subject for Henry Bigelow (WHOI’s […]
Read MoreIllustration showing the effects of two Beaufort Gyre air pressure shifts
Arctic climate is regulated by an intricate series of interconnected mechanisms that shift winds, ice, currents, and other conditions. In the recent past, the Arctic had reliably shifted between high-pressure […]
Read MoreBacterial degradation and disaggregation of marine detritus
1. Colonization. Searching for food, bacteria colonize particles of marine detritus.
2. Proliferation & communication. Bacteria produce acylated homoserine lactones, or AHLs (small squiggles) Bacteria send out chemicals (AHLs) to sense […]
Read MoreHow bacteria is transported through the environment into the ocean
Much of our waste from homes, hospitals, and farms contains bacteria and antibiotics that make their way to wastewater treatment plants and rivers and end up in the ocean, where […]
Read MoreHow bacteria achieve a “quorum”
How bacteria achieve a “quorum.” (Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander and Katherine Joyce, WHOI, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreGrowing bacteria in petri dishes applied with antibiotics
For her experiments, Megan May grows bacteria collected from beaches on different petri dishes and applies antibiotics. Antibiotics can encourage antibiotic resistance by killing off all the susceptible bacteria and […]
Read MoreAtlantic Ocean currents carrying warm water up to Greenland
Up from the tropics– Ocean currents carry warm waters from the subtropics to the eastern coast of Greenland. The subtropical waters lose some heat along the way, but are still […]
Read MoreAtlantic Ocean currents circulation
To reconstruct climate changes over millennia, scientists like WHOI’s Delia Oppo and former colleague Jerry McManus use conceptual models, like the one depicted here, that simulate the workings of the […]
Read MoreAtlantic and Arctic Oceans currents
Atlantic and Arctic Oceans currents. (Illustration by Jack Cook, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreTerritorial Arctic map
Multiple countries control territories within the Arctic circle, with Russia alone accounting for 53% of the Arctic coastline. (Illustration by Natalie Renier, as sourced from Natural Earth, Flanders Marine Institute […]
Read MoreIllustration showing the global boundaries of the Arctic region
Illustration showing the global boundaries of the Arctic region. (Illustration by Jack Cook, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreChanges from 2007 to 2015 on the release of radium in the Arctic
Diminishing sea ice near the Arctic coast leaves more open water for winds to create waves. The increased wave action reaches down and stirs up sediments on shallow continental shelves, […]
Read More2011 Global Hydrothermal Vents map
2011 Global Hydrothermal Vents map. Updated data source: InterRidge Vents Database, Version 2.1, release date 8 November 2011. (S. E. Beaulieu, E. T. Baker, C. R. German, and A. Maffei […]
Read More2009 Global Hydrothermal Vents map
2009 Global Hydrothermal Vents map. Funding from InterRidge and Morss Colloquium Program at WHOI. Data sources: InterRidge Vents Database, Version 2.0, release date 5 Mar. 2010; University of Texas PLATES […]
Read MoreBiological Carbon Pump
Biological Carbon Pump Once the solubility pump introduces carbon into surface waters, the ocean twilight zone’s biological carbon pump (BCP) plays an important role in the rapid removal of a […]
Read MoreMixing layer diagram
Mixing layer diagram. (Illustration by Jayne Doucette, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreThe life cycle of Greenland’s meltwater lakes
Meltwater lakes pool on Greenland’s ice sheet each spring and summer, then drain through cracks to bedrock, and ultimately out to the ocean. these lakes could accelerate global sea level […]
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