News Releases

Scientists Map Ocean Floor Near Palmer Station in Antarctica

June 8, 2005

Using inflatable boats, a portable depth sounder with GPS, and a REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle, a team of scientists and engineers has created the first detailed, comprehensive chart of the […]

Hurricanes and the Coastal Zone

June 1, 2005

With hurricane season arriving June 1, along with predictions of an above normal number of major storms in the Atlantic and Gulf States, understanding how the ocean and atmospheric interact […]

What is That in the Water?

As summer vacations approach, beachgoers might want to bring along a guide to what they and their children will see on the beach and in the water. WHOI scientists and […]

Commonly called “red tides,” harmful algal blooms, or HABs, are an abundance or “bloom” of single-celled marine algae called phytoplankton that grow and multiply under the right conditions. Among the […]

G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation Honored by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

May 31, 2005

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution recently honored The G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation of New York with the prestigious Cecil H. Green Award. The award, named for Texas Instruments’ founder and philanthropist […]

WHOI Scientists Monitor Largest Red Tide Outbreak in 12 Years in Massachusetts Bay

May 26, 2005

With shellfish beds from Maine to the Cape Cod coast closed from the largest outbreak of red tide in 12 years in Massachusetts Bay, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic […]

New Underwater Volcano Found Near Samoa

May 25, 2005

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Oregon and University of Sydney, has discovered an active underwater […]

Scientists Find Unusual Use of Metals in the Ocean

May 9, 2005

Cadmium, commonly considered a toxic metal and often used in combination with nickel in batteries, has been found to have a biological use as a nutrient in the ocean, the […]

WHOI Scientist Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

May 3, 2005

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Senior Scientist Stanley Hart of the Geology and Geophysics Department was recently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of […]

Diving to the Rosebud Vents – Galápagos Rift

May 1, 2005

In 2002, researchers diving in the submersible Alvin returned to the Galápagos Rift, a mid-ocean ridge about 250 miles from the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean where hydrothermal […]

Tiny Computer Tag Provides Insight to Reclusive Beaked Whales

A miniature computer weighing less than 5 ounces attached to the backs of beaked whales with suction cups is providing new clues to the behavior and sounds made by the […]

Exploring the Seas from Top to Bottom

WHOI research vessels are exploring the oceans this spring from Bermuda to the Bay of Fundy in the North Atlantic and from Mexico to the Galápagos Islands in the eastern […]

Salty Staircase in the Atlantic Provides Clues to Ocean Mixing

April 29, 2005

Layers of salty ocean water mix with layers of fresher water, creating a salty staircase or layering driven by small-scale convection known as salt fingers. Although scientists have known about […]

Sea Squirt Invasion: Scientists Gather at WHOI for First International Conference

April 20, 2005

Scientists, natural resource managers and students from four continents will gather at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) April 21 and 22 to discuss a growing global problem: the sea […]

New Coral Dating Technique Helps Resolve Changes in Sea Level Rise in the Past

April 15, 2005

Corals from Papua New Guinea and Barbados indicate that changes in sea level, one of the key indexes for global climate change, may have been more frequent in the past […]

WHOI Establishes Award to Recognize Contributions of Navy Admiral, Oceanographer

April 1, 2005

A former Oceanographer of the Navy and Rear Admiral who headed Marine Operations at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for 14 years has been honored by the Institution with […]

Changes in Earth’s Tilt Control When Glacial Cycles End

March 28, 2005

Scientists have long debated what causes glacial/interglacial cycles, which have occurred most recently at intervals of about 100,000 years. A new study reported in the March 24 issue of Nature […]

Elephants Imitate Sounds as a Form of Social Communication

March 24, 2005

Elephants learn to imitate sounds that are not typical of their species, the first known example after humans of vocal learning in a non-primate terrestrial mammal.

Underwater Robot Launched from Bermuda to Cross Gulf Stream

A small autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, named Spray was launched yesterday about 12 miles southeast of Bermuda. The two-meter-(6-foot)-long orange glider with a four-foot wingspan will slowly make its […]

Deep-Sea Tremors May Provide Early Warning System for Larger Earthquakes

Predicting when large earthquakes might occur may be a step closer to reality, thanks to a new study of undersea earthquakes in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The study, reported in today??A’s Nature, is the first to suggest that small seismic shocks or foreshocks preceding a major earthquake can be used in some cases to predict the main tremors.

Assessing Algerian Earthquake Risk

March 1, 2005

Scientists from WHOI and USGS Menlo Park will be assessing future earthquake risk in Algeria and training Algerian researchers under a new two-year project funded by the Office of Foreign […]