Press Room
Officers of the Corporation Elected May 13, 1999
An active volcano rising more than 4,300 meters (over 14,100 feet) from the ocean floor in the Samoa Islands has been discovered by a team of U.S. scientists, providing more evidence to the scientific debate over the formation of hot spot island chains. The volcano, more than 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) across at its base, rises to within 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) of the surface; its peak is marked by a circular caldera some two kilometers (over 1 mile) across and 400 meters (1,300 feet) deep. It is similar in size to Mt. Whitney in California, the largest mountain in the contiguous 48 U.S. states.
The largest bacterium ever found, a harmless organism that grows as a string of white beads large enough to be visible to the naked eye, has been found in coastal sediments off the coast of Namibia by an international research team. In an article in today’s issue of the journal Science, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany, the University of Barcelona in Spain, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts suggest the new genus and species be named Thiomargarita namibiensis(“sulphur pearl of Namibia”).
John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, will visit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) April 23 to discuss potential collaboration and to learn more about deep sea research. His visit will follow meetings earlier in the week with Vice President Al Gore and leaders of Congress in Washington, DC, and an Earth Day lecture on sustainable development at the United Nations in New York City.
Oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp, co-creator of the first world ocean floor map and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, was honored by the Women’s Committee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) March 30 with the 1999 Women Pioneers in Oceanography Award.
The North Atlantic northern right whale, considered to be the most endangered large whale species, is headed for extinction unless human intervention improves survival, according to a new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMASS Boston). Their report, the first to obtain rigorous statistical estimates of survival probability of this population, was published today in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
Three scientists have been recognized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for their contributions to ocean sciences research. Drs. Cheryl Ann Butman of the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, David A. Caron of the Biology Department and Brian E. Tucholke of the Geology and Geophysics Department have each been named the recipient of an endowed chair at the Institution. Each chair brings financial support for a period of five years, allowing the recipient the freedom to pursue a variety of career interests.
Daniel E. Frye, Barrie B. Walden and Carl 0. Wirsen have been named recipients of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Senior Technical Staff Awards for their contributions to the development of technology and their efforts to guide younger staff in […]
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has named Senior Scientist Robert A. Weller and Associate Scientist Steven P. Anderson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as recipients of its 1999 Secretary of the Navy/Chief of Naval Operations Oceanographic Research […]
Real-time data on coastal storms, on movement of sand that buries harbor entrances and inlets, and on the impact of winds on shoreline processes will soon be available through a new nearshore observatory planned off the south coast of Martha’s […]
Scientists and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues have successfully created the first permanent deep ocean seafloor observatory in the United States by connecting a junction box to a retired telephone cable on the seafloor in […]
The U.S. Navy has transferred custody of its deepest-diving submersible, Sea Cliff, to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), operator of the National Deep Submergence Facility for the ocean research community. Capable of diving to 20,000 feet, Sea Cliff is […]
World leaders in fisheries oceanography will give an overview of the current state of the worlds’ fisheries in a symposium hosted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Tuesday, August 25, 1998 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in […]
With 1998 declared the International Year of the Ocean by the United Nations and President Clinton, marine research and engineering are major topics of discussion at both the upcoming National Oceans Conference in Monterey, California, and at EXPO ’98, the […]
Global ocean observatories and the link they provide to climate prediction and education was one of the topics of discussion today at the National Ocean Conference in Monterey, CA. Dr. Robert B. Gagosian, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution […]
Results of a 1997 deep-sea survey of the wreck of the M/V Derbyshire, the largest British merchant ship in terms of tonnage ever lost at sea, were released today in Great Britain by the British Department of the Environment, Transport […]
A new suite of deep-sea camera systems, including a prototype high definition color television camera, has captured some unprecedented images of exotic life forms living in total darkness and freezing temperatures on the seafloor. The cameras, successfully used on a […]
The U.S. deep-diving submersible Alvin, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the French submersible Nautile are diving today on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an undersea mountain range in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, […]
The 274-foot Research Vessel Atlantis, the nation’s newest and most capable deep-sea research vessel and new support ship for the deep-diving three-person submersible Alvin, will visit New York City May 14-16 and Washington, DC May 19-21 as part of its […]
The twelfth Henry Bryant Bigelow Award in Oceanography, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) highest honor, was presented January 31 to a member of the Institution’s own scientific staff. Senior Scientist William J. Jenkins of the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry […]