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Why this caged bird won’t sing

WHOI scientists have garnered many medals and awards, but none is more fun than the Albatross Award, the stuffed bird in the cage held here by Henry Stommel, right, and Art Maxwell, two of its early winners. The tongue-in-cheek award is conferred by the American Miscellaneous Society, once described by the journal Science as “a mildly loony, invisible college of otherwise mature academicians” and made up of previous winners. Its recipients are selected for unusual (or sometimes obscure) contributions to oceanography. Maxwell was among the originators of the award, Henry Stommel received it in 1966. Bill von Arx in 1970, and Mike McCartney was the fourteenth awardee in 2002. One of the Albatross traditions is presentation at a meeting as far as possible from the winner’s home base—McCartney got the bird at a meeting in Hawaii. (Photo by Jan Hahn, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)