WHOI's best of 2022
The ocean is our muse, and it looks like it’s yours too!
We’ve spent the year diving to greater depths in HOV Alvin, confronting the coral crisis with our unique blend of science and engineering, and elevating the ocean to the center stage for the first time ever at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, COP27. And that’s not all—our people have continued to collaborate on thousands of projects that push ocean science and exploration forward for the global good. Through stories, events, videos, and interviews, we’ve made it our job to share this ocean knowledge with the world—maybe that’s how we met you?
Thank you for being a friend of the ocean. Please enjoy this roundup of our most-loved offerings from 2022!
WHOI's Top 5 stories of 2022
You want to understand our changing climate. We think the ocean holds the key. This year our most-read stories focused on scientists studying the shifting sands of coastlines and the ebb and flow of ice ages. You took a dive into the ocean’s ability to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. And you wanted a shark forecast? Here you go.
Editor's Choice: With worsening storms, can the Outer Banks protect its shoreline?
WHOI's Top 5 videos of 2022
The ocean lit up your screens this year. We invited you behind the scenes on tropical reefs and beside the ice cliffs of Antarctica. We took cameras to the deepest known hydrothermal vents and introduced the scientists studying microbes that might illuminate life in other solar systems.
We’re pleased to present our top ocean flicks of the year. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a seat and settle in.
Editor's Choice: Hope for Corals in Crisis
Most Loved Instagram Photo
This #glowing pink, transparent #seacucumber may seem like an #alien life form, but it’s actually related to #seastars and sea #urchins.
While most sea cucumbers attach themselves to the seafloor, #Enypniastes eximia is part of an elite club of swimmers. It visits the seafloor to eat, then uses the wing-like collar around the front of its body to swim slowly, yet gracefully, several hundred feet up from the bottom.
This guy’s intestines and other internal organs are visible through its clear body wall, which is covered with #light-producing organs. Scientists think #bioluminescence may help this sea cucumber–and many other #OceanTwilightZone species–deter predators.
Photo by Larry Madin © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
WHOI's Top 5 Ocean Topics of 2022
You want to know how the ocean works. We’re your first stop for science-based answers. This year you wanted to know what will happen to seashells and ice shelves and how warm our ocean might get. And you’re not just curious about climate change, you also want to understand the big picture, how this whole salty universe operates from trench-bottom to wave-tip.
Still thirsty for knowledge? Dive in!
Top Outreach Activities
Top Selling Merchandise
Top 10 WHOI in the News
- Emperor Penguins Are Protected Under the Endangered Species Act - The New York Times
- Listen: Scientists Are Recording Ocean Sounds to Spot New Species - The Wall Street Journal
- Humans can dive deeper into the world’s oceans than ever before with Alvin - CNN
- With new tags, researchers can track sharks into the inky depths of the ocean’s Twilight Zone - Popular Science
- What Are Ocean Predators Doing So Deep Underwater? - The Atlantic
- A tiny research robot is living with an Antarctica penguin colony - CBS National News
- A major Atlantic current is at a critical transition point - PBS NOVA
- Right whales giving birth a cause for excitement, but not enough to save endangered species - USA Today
- Sinking mid-Atlantic coast will increase impacts of rising sea level, study finds - Accuweather
- In Antarctica, a clunky robot has befriended a colony of penguins - Mashable
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