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Press Room

WHOI Expertise, Technology, Tapped for Search for Air France Flight 447

March 25, 2010

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is part of an international sea search operation formed to locate the deep-sea wreck site of Air France Flight 447 and to retrieve the flight recorders from the Airbus A 330.

Cape Broadband Network to Benefit Woods Hole Institutions

March 12, 2010

WOODS HOLE, MA—Woods Hole scientists are hailing last week’s announcement of $32 million in federal stimulus funds awarded to the OpenCape Corporation to construct a new broadband network across southeastern Massachusetts. The project, which will consist of a wireless network,…

Pioneering Deep-Sea Robot Lost at Sea

March 9, 2010

A pioneering deep-sea exploration robot—one of the first successful submersible vehicles that was both unmanned and untethered to surface ships—was lost at sea Friday, March 5, on a research expedition off the coast of Chile. The 15-year-old Autonomous Benthic Explorer,…

Chile Quake Occurred in Zone of “Increased Stress”

March 1, 2010

The massive, 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile Feb. 27 occurred in an offshore zone that was under increased stress caused by a 1960 quake of magnitude 9.5, according to geologist Jian Lin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Researchers Issue Outlook for a Significant New England ‘Red Tide’ in 2010

February 24, 2010

Today, scientists from the NOAA-funded Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project issued an outlook for a significant regional bloom of a toxic alga that can cause ‘red tides’ in the spring and summer of this year, potentially threatening the New…

Optical system promises to revolutionize undersea communications

February 23, 2010

In a technological advance that its developers are likening to the cell phone and wireless Internet access, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and engineers have devised an undersea optical communications system that?complemented by acoustics?enables a virtual revolution in high-speed undersea data collection and transmission.

International Group of Scientists Collaborate to Communicate about Ocean Acidification

February 22, 2010

Climate change is a well-known problem resulting from the burning of fossil fuels and the subsequent release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. But a separate, lesser-known problem resulting from increased CO2 emissions is that the world’s oceans are…

WHOI contributes to special seamount issue of Oceanography magazine

February 22, 2010

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biologist Timothy M. Shank is among five guest editors of a newly published special edition of the research journal Oceanography on the oceans? seamounts, submerged isolated mountains in the sea. Shank is also a contributor to the special Oceanography edition.

Team finds subtropical waters flushing through Greenland fjord

February 16, 2010

Waters from warmer latitudes — or subtropical waters — are reaching Greenland’s glaciers, driving melting and likely triggering an acceleration of ice loss, reports a team of researchers led by Fiamma Straneo, a physical oceanographer from the Woods Hole Oceanographic…

WHOI Expert: Haiti quake occurred in complex, active seismic region

January 14, 2010

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that triggered disastrous destruction and mounting death tolls in Haiti this week occurred in a highly complex tangle of tectonic faults near the intersection of the Caribbean and North American crustal plates, according to a quake expert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who has studied faults in the region and throughout the world.

WHOI Receives $8.1 Million Grant to Construct New Laboratory

January 13, 2010

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will receive $8.1 million from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to construct the Laboratory for Ocean Sensors and Observing Systems. The WHOI award is one of only 12…

WHOI-Operated ROV Jason Images the Discovery of the Deepest Explosive Eruption on the Sea Floor

December 17, 2009

Oceanographers using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason discovered and recorded the first video and still images of a deep-sea volcano actively erupting molten lava on the seafloor. Jason, designed and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the…

Two WHOI Scientists Named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

December 17, 2009

John Farrington and David Gallo of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

Woods Hole Consortium Delegates Participating in U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this Week

December 11, 2009

CONTACTS: Andrea Early, Marine Biological Laboratory 508-289-7652; aearly@mbl.edu Media Relations Office, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 508-289-3340; media@whoi.edu Elizabeth Braun, Woods Hole Research Center 508-540-9900, x109; ebraun@whrc.org WOODS HOLE, MA—Directors and scientists from the Woods Hole Consortium are in Copenhagen, Denmark,…

In CO2-rich Environment, Some Ocean Dwellers Increase Shell Production

December 1, 2009

In a striking finding that raises new questions about carbon dioxide?s (CO2) impact on marine life, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists report that some shell-building creatures?such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters?unexpectedly build more shell when exposed to ocean acidification caused by elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).

CO2 Emissions Continue Significant Climb

November 24, 2009

The annual rate of increase in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has more than tripled in this decade, compared to the 1990s, reports an international consortium of scientists, who paint a bleak picture of the Earth?s future unless ?CO2 emissions [are] drastically reduced.?

Bruce Warren

WHOI’s Bruce A. Warren Is Awarded Sverdrup Gold Medal

November 19, 2009

Bruce A. Warren?one of the world?s pre-eminent researchers of deep ocean currents and scientist emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)?is the 2010 winner of the prestigious Sverdrup Gold Medal, awarded by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).

New Tsunami Education Web Site Developed by Oceanographers

November 19, 2009

Scientists and Web developers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have created a new educational Web site with crucial tips on how to prepare for and survive a tsunami. Tagged as “an interactive guide that could save your life,”…

SEA to conduct expedition dedicated to measuring plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean

November 12, 2009

(Woods Hole, Mass.) — Sea Education Association (SEA) is preparing to conduct the first-ever research expedition dedicated solely to examining the accumulation of plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean. The expedition, scheduled to begin in June, will expand…

Newly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer with an Upside

November 5, 2009

A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).  This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in…