Oceanus Online Archive
Melting Ice Threatens Polar Bears’ Survival
The Department of Interior’s imminent decision on whether to place polar bears on the federally protected endangered species list has focused attention on a recent study that documents for the…
Read MoreProposals Emerge to Transfer Excess Carbon into the Ocean
It’s sort of the planetary equivalent of moving clutter accumulating in the attic to other storage space in the basement: transferring excess heat-trapping carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere into the…
Read MoreDumping Iron and Trading Carbon
Debating the idea of fertilizing the ocean with iron can feel a little like riding a seesaw. On the up side is iron’s eye-catching potential to set off enormous plankton…
Read MoreLessons from Nature, Models, and the Past
The first part of biogeochemist John Martin’s famous prediction—“Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age”—has been proved partly right: Iron is the only…
Read MoreWhat Are the Possible Side Effects?
Most of the ocean food chain is too small to see, but that doesn’t mean the effects of iron fertilization will be, too. “The purpose, if one is going to…
Read MoreWill Ocean Iron Fertilization Work?
In this age of satellites, it’s fairly easy to answer the basic question of whether adding iron to the ocean can stimulate a plankton bloom. When storms over land blow…
Read MoreStranded Marine Mammals Stir Tough Decisions
A seal, sick or injured, is found stranded on a beach. What should be done? That depends on whom you ask. An animal welfare advocate would urge efforts to help…
Read MoreRobot Paints Stunning Map of Deep-sea Volcano
Painting with sonar, each brushstroke a “ping” of sound reflected off the seafloor, the robotic underwater vehicle called ABE created a masterpiece of a landscape—one that is submerged about a…
Read MoreGoing for the GUSTO (Mooring)
It was the oceanographic equivalent of stopping for milk on the way home. Two years ago, Mike McCartney had left a mooring in the Gulf Stream, rigged with sensors to…
Read MoreOceanInsights for the Blind
WHOI physical oceanographer Amy Bower brought along a few extraordinary passengers when she set out to the Labrador Sea aboard the research vessel Knorr in September: Kate Fraser, a science…
Read MoreSubmerged Autonomous Launch Platforms
Amy Bower wanted to investigate an elusive and unpredictable phenomenon in a remote ocean. Off the west coast of Greenland, large, spinning rings of warm water, called eddies, occasionally form…
Read MorePlumbing the Plume That Created Samoa
Matthew Jackson began his journey to the center of the Earth on lonely gravel roads in Montana. Uninterested in motorcycles and horses, and miles from neighbors and friends, Jackson roamed…
Read MorePublication Schedule
Volume 49 No. 1 — December 2011 No. 2 — May 2012 No. 3 — October 2012 Volume 50 No. 1 March 2013 No. 2 October 20123
Read MoreFertilizing the Ocean with Iron
“Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age” may rank as the catchiest line ever uttered by a biogeochemist. The man responsible was…
Read MoreCoral Catastrophe on the Corner Rise Seamounts
A research team has found that deep-sea coral communities that provide lush habitats for fish and other marine life were extensively damaged, mostly likely by deep-sea fishing trawlers, atop two…
Read MoreWill the Ocean Circulation Be Unbroken?
If the world’s climate is going to change, we will see signs in the ocean. The atmosphere and oceans are intricately linked; nowhere is that better demonstrated than in the…
Read MoreA New Way to Monitor Changes in the Arctic
The Arctic is changing in response to Earth’s changing climate. Arctic ecosystems that have evolved over millions of years face changes occurring over 25 to 30 years, the average lifetime…
Read MoreAre Pollutants Disrupting Marine Ecosystems?
Ask people to name some animals—any animals—and they will give you a long list. But chances are, all the animals will have one thing in common: a spine. The animals…
Read MoreA Mysterious Disease Afflicts Lobster Shells
In the late 1930s, lobstermen in Rhode Island began to notice strange black spots on the shells of lobsters being held in tanks. By the 1980s, a similar condition, now…
Read MorePut the D-tag on the Manatee
When boats hit manatees, the outcome is often grim. Bones are broken and skins sliced. Despite regulations designed to prevent collisions, dozens of manatees in Florida continue to be injured or…
Read MoreMicrobes That ‘Eat’ Natural Gas
In the quest to explore the remarkable diversity of microbial life on Earth, an international team of scientists has identified marine bacteria that can “eat” butane and propane in natural…
Read MoreMorss Colloquia Focus on Science and Society
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution launched a new program, hosting three “Morss Colloquia” since October 2006. Enabled by a generous grant from Elisabeth and Henry Morss Jr., the public colloquia concerned…
Read MoreAgreement Opens Door to Red Sea Research
WHOI signed an agreement April 16 with officials of the planned King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia to consult on facilities and develop research projects…
Read MoreWHOI meets WhOI on www.Whyville.net
Whyvillians have a problem: Harmful algae are threatening their beaches and coastal ecosystem. To investigate, understand, and mitigate the problem, citizens are turning to the Whyville Oceanographic Institution (WhOI), with…
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