Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives

The race to respond to right whales, via buoys

February 4, 2026 — At 4 p.m. on Jan. 20, new squiggles emerged on Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Senior Scientist Mark Baumgartner’s computer screen. Two years since it was deployed, Savannah’s acoustic buoy finally made its first detection: two contact calls from a North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW).

The calls sound like a questioning “huhhh?” or “hmmm?” pitched low to high, about two seconds each and seconds apart, intended to signal one’s identity to another NARW. While Baumgartner didn’t hear it, the calls were visualized by two small upticks on a frequency graph.

“We were very happy to see it,” said Baumgartner.

Soon after the detection, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) created a voluntary slow zone in the Southeast U.S., alerting ships to slow to 10 knots or less within 15 or so nautical miles of the buoy, bobbing on the surface about 30 miles southeast of Tybee. Ten knots should give enough time for NARW females and their calves to scurry out of the way, said Baumgartner.

Read the full article at Savannah Morning News

Tracking Sea Creature Stress Related to Wind Turbine Construction

December 5, 2024 — With hundreds of towering offshore wind turbines planned to be built in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, a team of local scientists is working to find out if the construction noise will hurt ocean life.

As regulators consider projects up and down the east coast, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have been simulating the booming sound of pile driving turbine monopiles to see if it has an effect on a variety of species. So far, results have been mixed.

While there’s been research into how turbine construction impacts the endangered right whale, the ocean’s small ground critters have largely been left to fend for themselves, said Aran Mooney, an associate scientist at WHOI.

“This is a knowledge gap, and it could really impact the fisheries,” he said.

The research team has been replicating construction and observing its effects on lobsters, sea scallops, flounder, squid and black sea bass. Mr. Mooney’s work was contracted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the federal agency that oversees offshore wind energy.

In the past few years, the WHOI scientists have determined the impact the noise has on squid by playing an audio recording of pile driving as they were enclosed in a tank.

“The sound profiles are pretty much the same as what we see in offshore wind, actual construction.” Mr. Mooney said.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Controversial US marine geoengineering test delayed until next year

October 3, 2024 — A controversial experiment to field-test a way to quickly sequester more carbon in the world’s oceans has been pushed back until 2025, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

The LOC-NESS project, headed by WHOI, had planned to disseminate 20 metric tons of sodium hydroxide (commonly known as lye) along with tracer dye into the waters off the coast of New England this September. The experiment is meant to test a geoengineering technology known as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE).

OAE is a potential avenue for soaking up carbon quickly and for hopefully combating the worst looming impacts of climate change. But the test has run into issues, including a delay regarding the vessel to be used, plus local pushback.

Adam Subhas, a WHOI associate scientist in marine chemistry and geochemistry, who is working on the LOC-NESS project (short for Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope), said the test was pushed back until next year because the ship the research team planned to use was no longer available.

“WHOI explored finding a potential replacement vessel, but it was not available until late September [of this year], with the possibility of additional delays due to the anticipated active hurricane season,” Subhas said. So, the scientists “concluded that the ocean conditions this late in the season would be significantly less favorable for the research, which is dependent on warmer ocean temperatures.”

A controversial experiment to field-test a way to quickly sequester more carbon in the world’s oceans has been pushed back until 2025, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Read the full article at Mongabay

Ocean geoengineering experiment south of Martha’s Vineyard, designed to suck carbon from atmosphere, is delayed

August 15, 2024 — A controversial geoengineering experiment planned for an area of open ocean water southwest of Martha’s Vineyard will be delayed until 2025, the research institution leading the project announced Wednesday. It had been set to begin this September.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a private marine research nonprofit organization, had planned to release a 6,600-gallon mixture of sodium hydroxide solution and freshwater into the Atlantic in a first-of-its-kind experiment. The intent is to learn whether the method — known as “ocean alkalinity enhancement” — can temporarily change the chemistry of the water, thereby raising the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed by the ocean and helping to fight climate change.

However, after scheduling delays related to the federal permitting process, the research institution said that the research vessel needed for the experiment was no longer available.

Read the full article at The Boston Globe

Scientists plan climate engineering experiment in ocean off Cape Cod

July 11, 2024 — Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are seeking a federal permit to experiment in the waters off Cape Cod and see if tweaking the ocean’s chemistry could help slow climate change.

If the project moves forward, it will likely be the first ocean field test of this technology in the U.S. But the plan faces resistance from both environmentalists and the commercial fishing industry.

The scientists want to disperse 6,600 gallons of sodium hydroxide — a strong base — into the ocean about 10 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The process, called ocean alkalinity enhancement or OAE, should temporarily increase that patch of water’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. This first phase of the project, targeted for early fall, will test chemical changes to the seawater, diffusion of the chemical and effects on the ecosystem.

If successful, the team plans to conduct a larger trial next year in the Gulf of Maine.

Dan McCorkle, co-principal investigator of the project and a recently retired Woods Hole researcher, said the team chose a part of ocean that would minimize impact on marine life, and that they will stop the release of sodium hydroxide if marine mammals are present. The chemical will likely be detectable in an area a couple miles in diameter and should dissipate within five days.

Read the full article at wbur

Sharks might be ferocious predators, but they’re no match for warming oceans, studies say

November 9, 2023 — The ocean’s most feared but fascinating predators face increasing dangers from the world’s warming oceans, scientists found in two international studies released this week.

Both studies revealed new information about sharks that surprised scientists and added to a growing body of research raising concerns about warming oceans and the effects of human activities on ocean ecosystems.

Large sharks, tunas and other predators make far more deep dives into the ocean than previously understood, concluded a study led by Camrin Braun, an assistant scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The study also found that disruptions to ocean ecosystems from climate change and mining – without careful consideration of the risks and benefits – could threaten species at the top of the ocean food chain, harming conservation efforts and commercial fishing.

Read the full article at USA Today

Weakening Gulf Stream could cause decline in Maine’s lobster fishery

November 7, 2023 — Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution confirmed with 99 percent certainty that the Gulf Stream is weakening, and with it the future of seafood species like lobster off the U.S. East Coast is uncertain.

The Gulf Stream transports warm water north from Florida along the East Coast of the U.S., influencing everything from water temperature to weather in Europe. According to a recent study, the Gulf Stream has slowed by 4 percent over the past four decades, and there is 99 percent certainty that the weakening is from more than just random chance.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Study offers first definitive proof that Gulf Stream has weakened

October 10, 2023 — New research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution offers the first conclusive evidence that the Gulf Stream has weakened. The powerful ocean current off the East Coast influences regional weather, climate and fisheries, and the finding could have significant implications both for New England and the global climate.

This study “deals with a really, really crucial topic right now,” said Glen Gawarkiewicz, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who was not involved with the study. He said that a shifting Gulf Stream is already having a profound effect on East Coast fisheries, bringing more warm water fish into the area and disrupting seasonal patterns of fish and squid movement. And it has been unclear whether, or how much, the current is slowing down.”We really need to figure out how and why the Gulf Stream is changing.”

Researchers drew on three sets of long-term measurements in the Florida straits, where the Gulf Stream originates. The study found that the Gulf Stream slowed by 4% over the last forty years.

Read the full article at wbur

Climate change takes habitat from big fish, the ocean’s key predators

September 14, 2023 — This year’s marine heat waves and spiking ocean temperatures foretell big changes in the future for some of the largest fish in the sea, such as sharks, tunas and swordfish.

The rising temperatures of the oceans are especially dangerous for these fish because warming makes their open-water habitats less suitable, scientists who study the species said. Loss of habitat could largely remove some of the most important predators — and some of the most commercially important seafood species — from the ocean.

One recent study, from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, predicts that some large species could lose 70% of their habitat by 2100. It’s a sign that this year’s high temperatures aren’t an anomaly but a warning about what the ocean’s future could hold with climate change.

Species of large fish such as marlin and skipjack live in areas that are among the fastest warming ocean regions, projected to increase by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, said Camrin Braun, a marine scientist and an author of the Woods Hole study. That much warming would prompt widespread redistribution of the animals, potentially fundamentally changing sea ecosystems, Braun said.

“Across the board, with life histories so different, we see this consistent signal of loss of habitat,” Braun said. “For sure, their habitat will change. How they respond to that is an open question.”

Read the full article at Spectrum News

Rising ocean temperatures could threaten sharks, tuna and other predators: Study

August 17, 2023 — By the year 2100, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico could experience a rise in temperature that could impact sharks, tuna and other predators, according to a study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), San Diego State University and NOAA Fisheries.

”What we’re seeing is this rise, a linear increase in ocean temperature,” Rebecca Lewison, a biology professor at San Diego State University, and co-author of the study, told NBC 7 Wednesday.

Using three decades of satellite and oceanographic modeling, researchers found that temperatures across these oceans could be 1-6 degrees Celsius warmer by 2100 because of climate change-driven shifts. The study, funded by NASA, has taken a deeper dive into what the future might look like in these oceans.

“By combining satellite data, like NASA’s satellite data, that we use with the information that we have on animals in the ocean, we know so much about the changes that are happening, so we don’t want to create a sort of one-size-fits-all approach,” Lewison said. “The science is really there to support dynamic management in all oceans.”

Read the full article at NBC