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Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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We're the world's largest independent non-profit dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education. Join us!
🤫Some of the ocean’s most iconic predators have a little secret: some are actually gentle giants that sustain ocean health!

Join us for a free live virtual event with WHOI scientists on Jan 28 to rethink ocean predators + their role in the ecosystem.

👉 Register today: go.whoi.edu/predators
January 14, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Think the Grand Canyon is deep? It’s time you looked into ocean trenches! ⁠

These long, steep depressions can drop miles below the rest of the ocean floor, to depths of 20,000+ feet (6,000m)!

📲 Find out how life survives— and what can we learn from studying trenches: go.whoi.edu/ocean-trenches
January 13, 2026 at 9:59 PM
WHOI glaciologist Catherine Walker is trying to answer a decades-long question: as glaciers advance and recede over the ocean, how do they hold together?

Walker’s team traveled to eastern Greenland to fill in big gaps in understanding how the Greenland ice sheet is changing over time.
January 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Aboard the icebreaking research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer, WHOI postdoc Jonas Preine was part of a team studying underwater volcanoes in Antarctica’s Ross Sea.

“Outside, snow was blasting through the headlight beam and no other ship in sight for hundreds of miles.”

📸 Jonas Preine/WHOI
January 12, 2026 at 4:59 PM
In “Life on the Rocks,” science writer Juli Berwald reconciles the demise of coral reefs due to ocean warming with the promise of scientific solutions—some championed by WHOI’s Reef Solutions researchers.

Get our review: go.whoi.edu/life-on-the-rocks
January 11, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Celebrate deep-sea discovery in our new Alvin hoodie!

This full-zip hooded sweatshirt features the legendary submersible Alvin. Rep deep-sea discovery while supporting our ocean research: go.whoi.edu/FZHS
January 11, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Still writing "2025" on your checks? It's time for a new calendar! 📅

Each of these amazing images was captured by our scientists and photographers working in remote parts of our beautiful ocean planet.

📲Get your 2026 WHOI Wall Calendar while supplies last: go.whoi.edu/2026
January 10, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Stuck in a winter rut? That's for the birds! 🦉

Get outside this weekend and experience the magic of snowy owls, eiders, harlequin ducks, and other species that spend the winter in New England.

📲Learn how to spot new feathered friends in this guide from WHOI's Oceanus: go.whoi.edu/winterbirds
January 9, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Did you know most of the volcanic activity on Earth takes place under the waves? 🌋

Submarine volcanoes act as pressure valves for the planet by periodically releasing heat and molten rock from beneath the surface.

📲 Learn more from our Ocean Learning Hub: go.whoi.edu/Uw_Volcano
January 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM
What do these three have in common? They were all captains of the original Atlantis!

Scott Bray, John Pike, and Adrian Lane (from left to right). Captain Lane was the master of Atlantis from 1956 to 1962, followed by Captain Pike, and finally Bray, who succeeded Pike as master.
January 8, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Can you see the juvenile octopus in this spot-winged comb jelly's stomach?

This fast-swimming ctenophore uses its muscular lobes to grab prey and to propel itself through the water if disturbed. It's also known to confuse visual predators by secreting luminous mucus (aka glowing snot!
January 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Drones are changing whale research, says WHOI’s Amy Apprill. 🐳

A new study shows collecting whale breath offers a non-invasive way to spot viruses—without waiting for dead whales to wash ashore. Learn more about the work from @npr.org: go.whoi.edu/nprwhales
January 7, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Have you ever wondered what the Titanic looks like after over a hundred years on the seafloor?

Visit our Ocean Learning Hub and dive deep into the history of the Titanic, how it sank, and how WHOI’s deep-sea technology led to its 1985 discovery.

🚢 ⬇️ See you at the bottom: go.whoi.edu/RMSTitanic
January 6, 2026 at 10:59 PM
On this day in 1930, WHOI was founded, on recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences, "to consider the share of the United States of America in a world-wide program of Oceanographic Research.”

🎉Here's to 96 years of exploration, innovation, and education for our ocean planet!
January 6, 2026 at 6:59 PM
What do you see here? 👀🐡🦞

Lobsters, grunts, and snappers blend into this coral reef off Little Cayman in the Caribbean. WHOI's Sensory Ecology and Bioacoustics lab studies coral reef soundscapes to monitor, diagnose, and even help restore ailing ecosystems through sound.

📸: Nate Formel/WHOI
January 5, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Atmospheric rivers, droughts, and cyclones—no matter where you live on our planet, your weather is influenced by the sea. 🌊🌀⛈️

👉Find out why a warmer sea means a stormier future from Oceanus: go.whoi.edu/oceanweather
January 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM
The poles are some of the most dynamic—yet fragile—regions on Earth.

Explore more wonders of our ocean planet, brought to you by science: go.whoi.edu/ocean-world

#ItsAnOceanWorld
January 4, 2026 at 11:00 PM
From sonar to deep-sea mapping, ocean science plays a key role in national security.

Find out what the future holds from WHOI’s Oceanographic Systems Lab Director, Carl Hartsfield: go.whoi.edu/hartsfieldocean
January 3, 2026 at 10:59 PM
The ocean is known as a "carbon sink" because of its capacity to take up carbon dioxide that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere.

So, how much more carbon is in the ocean than the atmosphere? Leave your best guess in the comments! ⤵️
January 3, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Around the world, more than a garbage truck of plastic enters the ocean every minute.

WHOI marine chemist Collin Ward aims to solve this problem by reformulating plastic to break down faster.

Find out how an unlikely partner spelled the secret to success in Oceanus: go.whoi.edu/plasticbreakdown
January 2, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Scientists visited Gakkel Ridge, a hydrothermal vent ecosystem in the Arctic Ocean, for the 1st time.

WHOI geochemist Chris German tells @sciam.bsky.social, “It’s so hard to get there that anything anybody does is almost guaranteed to be exciting and different and new."

Dive in: go.whoi.edu/gakkel
January 2, 2026 at 2:14 PM
#Throwback to a time before GPS navigation, when finding your way at sea required skill, precision, and a clear view of the stars.

Here, Captain Emerson Hiller uses a sextant to measure the angle between the horizon and a celestial body—a timeless tool for determining a ship’s position.
January 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Wishing you a joyful start to the new year!

In this time of new beginnings, we invite you to shake up your world view by shifting focus to the ocean. Check out why It's an Ocean World: go.whoi.edu/ocean-world
January 1, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Fireworks below the waves 🎆

As the sun sets on the last day of 2025, we're celebrating with some natural wonders: bioluminescent animals of the deep sea.

🥂Happy New Year!
December 31, 2025 at 9:59 PM
🎉 It’s been a big year for ocean science here at WHOI!⁠

Celebrate with us! Check out what made the ocean world go round in 2025: whoi.edu/best-of-2025
December 31, 2025 at 5:02 PM