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Press Room

WHOI collaborates with CMA CGM to increase protections for marine mammals

March 10, 2022

A collaboration between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, aims to increase whale detection efforts along the U.S East Coast, particularly for North Atlantic right whales, and reduce the potential for ship strikes along critical shipping routes.

Colleen Hansel

WHOI scientist elected as Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology

March 7, 2022

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist elected as Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology

Colleen Hansel, associate scientist at WHOI, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology within the American Society of Microbiology (ASM). […]

Evidence Bolsters Classification of a Major Spawning Ground for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Off the Northeast U.S.

March 3, 2022

The Slope Sea off the Northeast United States is a major spawning ground for Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), a new WHOI-led paper affirms. This finding likely has important implications for population dynamics and the survival of this fish.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution-led study explores effects of noise on marine life

March 2, 2022

New research shows turtles can experience temporary hearing loss from an excess of underwater noise. This high volume of sound, referred to as underwater noise pollution, can be caused by passing ships and offshore construction. These preliminary findings were part of a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution-led study that is being presented at the 2022 Ocean Sciences Meeting..

Resilient Woods Hole releases new, interactive tools to prepare for climate change

February 18, 2022

ResilientWoodsHole (RWH) initiative releases new interactive website tools to further engage the local community in its collective goal of securing a climate-resilient future for the coastal village of Woods Hole

Dissolving oil in a sunlit sea

February 16, 2022

A team of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers discovered that nearly 10 percent of the oil floating on the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon disaster was dissolved into seawater by sunlight – a process called “photo-dissolution”. The findings were published today in the paper “Sunlight-driven dissolution is a major fate of oil at sea” in Science Advances.

OTZ's role in climate change

The ocean twilight zone’s role in climate change

February 16, 2022

A new report from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Twilight Zone (OTZ) project team offers a detailed look at the climate-altering processes that take place within the zone, in particular those that are driven by animals that migrate between the twilight zone and the surface each night to feed. This phenomenon is likely the biggest migration on Earth—yet it remains incredibly vulnerable to human exploitation.

WHOI’s Ken Buesseler named Geochemistry Fellow

February 15, 2022

Dr. Ken Buesseler has been selected as a Geochemistry Fellow by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.

Ben Van Mooy awarded by Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography

February 10, 2022

WHOI senior scientist and Dept. Chair honored for phosphorus and lipid cycling research

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution co-produces Emmy award-winning program

February 3, 2022

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been awarded an Emmy as a co-producer, along with South Florida PBS (WPBT & WXEL) for Changing Seas: “Alvin: Pioneer of the Deep” . The 2021 Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Emmy Awards announced the honor in December, for the category “Environment/Science – Long Form Content.”

Earth BioGenome Project begins genome sequencing in earnest

January 19, 2022

The Deep-Ocean Genomes Project is an ambitious effort co-led by WHOI and the University of Connecticut (UConn) to obtain fundamental new knowledge of the organization, evolution, functions, and interactions of life in one of Earth’s least-understood regions: the deep ocean.

WHOI shares details on microplastic detection project

January 11, 2022

A project led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Chemical Sensors Lab is moving researchers closer to an in-field microplastics sensor that measures the amount of plastic particles in water.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution selected as finalist for Governors Island Climate Solutions Center

January 11, 2022

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, a global leader in ocean research and exploration, is partnering with two teams selected as finalists in the development of the new Governors Island Climate Solutions Center in New York City. The announcement was recently made by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and The Trust for Governors Island.

Research suggests giant kelp has different factors that bear on its growth dynamics

January 4, 2022

The macroalga giant kelp, which is an iconic and important ecosystem-structuring species found off the coast of California and many other coastlines, can grow 100-feet long within 1-2 years. Now, researchers using novel remote sensing observations have found that different factors may bear on the spatial growth dynamics of the Macrocystis pyrifera kelp, which is the largest species of algae in the world.

New ocean floats to boost global network essential for weather, climate research

December 15, 2021

WHOI and partners join together to launch approximately 100 new Argo floats across the Atlantic Ocean to collect data that supports ocean, weather and climate research and prediction

Tropical fish…up north? How ocean physics play a role in altering water temperature and salinity

December 10, 2021

A study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists is explaining why warm and salty water along with warm water fish species, such as the deep-sea dwelling Gulf Stream flounder and Black Sea bass, were found far inshore in New England in the middle of winter 2017. How did this happen? Researchers say it is due to an intrusion of offshore water from the open ocean onto the Northeast U.S. Shelf, caused by eddies (a circular current of water) and wind.

Study finds bio-based cellulose acetate plastic used in consumer goods disintegrates in ocean much faster than assumed

December 8, 2021

Woods Hole, MA – Cellulose diacetate (CDA), a bio-based plastic widely used in consumer goods, disintegrates, and degrades in the ocean far quicker than previously assumed, according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

“These findings challenge […]

Study outlines challenges to ongoing clean-up of burnt and unburnt nurdles along Sri Lanka’s coastline

November 29, 2021

When a fire broke out on the deck of the M/V XPress Pearl cargo ship on May 20, 2021, an estimated 70-75 billion pellets of preproduction plastic material, known as nurdles, spilled into the ocean and along the Sri Lankan coastline. That spill of about 1,500 tons of nurdles, many of which were burnt by the fire, has threatened marine life and poses a complex clean-up challenge. A new peer-reviewed study characterizes how the fire modified the physical and chemical properties of the nurdles and proposes that these properties affected their distribution along the coast.

“Mantle wind” blows through slab window beneath Panama

November 19, 2021

Woods Hole, MA – Volcanic gases are helping researchers track large-scale movements in Earth’s deep interior. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists, together with a group of international collaborators, have discovered anomalous geochemical compositions beneath Panama.

This interdisciplinary team used helium […]

DOE Funding will Support WHOI Research to Support Sustainable Development of Offshore Wind

November 19, 2021

Woods Hole, MA – The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has received $750,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop next‐generation autonomous robotic technology for environmental monitoring of marine organisms and the seafloor at potential wind […]