In the News
FREE EVENT: Buttonwood Park Zoo offers virtual look at ‘Ocean Twilight Zone’
The Buttonwood Park Zoo will host its Wildlife Education Series, “A Deep Dive into the Ocean Twilight Zone,” virtually on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. Capt. Philip G. Renaud, USN (Ret), Program Manager of the Ocean Twilight Zone Program for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will be the guest speaker. The virtual presentation will…
Read MoreThe oceans’ twilight zone must be studied now, before it is too late
Members of WHOI’s Ocean Twilight Zone project were instrumental in the recent formation of JETZON (Joint Exploration of the Twilight Zone Ocean Network), an international group linking all of the world’s major twilight zone research projects. Leaders of JETZON published a commentary in the journal Nature arguing that “Exploitation and degradation of the mysterious layer…
Read MoreThe Largest Mass Migration on The Planet Happens Every Single Day, And We Never See It
At night, they rise. As the Sun disappears over the horizon, a vast movement takes place in the world’s oceans, as countless sea creatures begin the long trek upwards towards the surface waters above. They do not stay long. When the Sun rises, bringing light and the threat of watchful surface predators, they will retreat…
Read MoreEnter the Twilight Zone: Scientists dive into the oceans’ mysterious middle
As part of a $25-million mission, NASA will travel to the north Atlantic in April with the WHOI OTZ team to study the movement of carbon between the atmosphere and the deep ocean via the twilight zone.
Read MoreSatellite Observes Massive Ocean Migration
Every night, under the cover of darkness, countless small sea creatures swim from the ocean depths to feed near the surface, then descend out of sight again before daybreak. This vast animal migration—a critical part of Earth’s carbon cycle—has been observed for the first time on a global scale thanks to a space-based laser. The…
Read MoreThe Lawless High Seas May Soon Gain Protections Under a Groundbreaking Ocean Treaty
“Historically, the high seas have been open to a wide array of uses,” said Porter Hoagland, a senior research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “There’s a notion of the freedom of the high seas, and with modern technology—including the ability to get out and use the ocean in those areas, as well as…
Read MoreFollowing the DNA trail in the Pacific Ocean
The San Jose Mercury-News reports on a new method researchers are using to track marine life by analyzing genetic material animals leave behind in the water. READ MORE >>
Read MoreFirst sea trials of a revolutionary new undersea robot
In late June researchers from MBARI joined engineers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to test a new breed of undersea robot designed to open up new avenues of research in the mesopelagic, also known as the ocean’s twilight zone. This vehicle, the Mesobot, originated at WHOI and was developed over the past two years…
Read MoreNew York Times: The Creepy Anglerfish Comes to Light
Increasingly, these ghoulish and improbable denizens of the abyss are being captured on video, revealing an array of surprising behaviors.
Read MoreThe Ocean’s Twilight Zone May Be the Key to Feeding and Protecting Life on Earth
You may think of the twilight zone as a frequently-revived TV sci-fi series, but it also refers to that deep, dark, mid layer of the ocean between 200 and 1000 meters, a part of the ocean that has been largely ignored—until now.
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