Who’s WHOI?

No matter where you live, the ocean affects your life.

 

Half the world’s oxygen comes from photosynthesis in the ocean. Almost half of the world’s population lives within 150 km of a coast. Almost all international trade is via ship. Only 5% of the ocean has been explored by humans. 90% of the heat from global warming has been absorbed by the oceans.

If you’re interested in oceanic research, Woods Hole, Massachusetts is the place to be. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (known as WHOI), founded in 1930, is one of the leading research facilities in the world today.

WHOI is an independent non-profit organization that studies a wide range of issues related to ocean and earth science. They do work related to coastal areas, ocean life, ocean exploration, and climate change. WHOI has more than 500 scientists, engineers, ship’s crew, and technicians, and more than 40 centres and labs.

WHOI has been responsible for a number of amazing discoveries, including:

The discovery of the wreck of the RMS TItanic: After many unsuccessful attempts by other groups, a WHOI team discovered the wreck of Titanic on September 1, 1985.

Discovery of hydrothermal vents: In 1977, WHOI scientists discovered seafloor vents gushing warm, mineral-rich fluids into the cold, dark depths. Even more astonishing, they found that the vents were brimming with extraordinary, unexpected life.

Oil spill research: For more than 40 years, WHOI has studied oil spills around the world. They have focused on a wide range of research related to the impact of oil in the marine environment. Their efforts are even helping make oil production and transportation safer.

WHOI’s ultimate goal is to help advance research and understanding of the ocean and its role in shaping and sustaining the planet. Education has always been a critical part of WHOI’s mission. The first formal education program was a summer research experience for undergraduates. starting around 1955.

WHOI’s vision for oceanography foresaw experts from many fields working together on questions related to the global ocean. That vision continues now and into the future.

 

Source: 

http://www.whoi.edu/

 

Curriculum Reference Links

  • Nature of Science / Understanding About Science / 1:  Students should be able to appreciate how scientists work and how scientific ideas are modified over time
  • Nature of Science / Science in Society / 10:  Students should be able to appreciate the role of science in society; and its personal, social and global importance; and how society influences scientific research

 



Young Scientist Spotlight:
HANNAH HERBST

10 Fun Facts: The Hab

1. Aquarius is the the world’s only permanent undersea research station.

2. Most missions last about two or three weeks.

3. Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau, beat his grandfather’s record month-long underwater expedition by spending 31 days on the Aquarius Reef Base in 2014.

4. The lab is used by NASA, the US Navy, and researchers and educators from around the globe for training and research.

5. The internet connection is better in the Hab than at many places above the water.

6. You have to swim underneath the facility in order to enter it.

7. Crew members are called aquanauts (NOT aquaNUTS!)

8. In 1994, a crew of scientists and divers had to evacuate Aquarius and climb up a rescue line to the surface in 15-foot seas after one of the habitat’s generators caught fire.

9. Aquarius was featured in the comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon in 2012.

10. The Hab was originally built in Texas.

10 Fun Facts: Coral

1. Reefs usually grow up on the east shore of land masses.

2. Parts of a coral reef can be harvested to make medications to treat cancers and other illnesses.

3. A coral reef isn’t a single organism; it’s actually a community of life that lives and thrives in one location.

4. Only about one percent of the world’s oceans contain coral reefs. That’s about the size of France.

5. Coral reefs are the largest biological structures on earth.

6. Corals are related to jellyfish and anemones.

7. There are over 2,500 species of corals. About 1,000 are the hard corals that build coral reefs.

8. Reefs grow where there are stronger wave patterns and currents to deliver food and nutrients.

9. The Great Barrier Reef is 500,000 years old.

10. Most coral reefs grow just about two centimeters per year.

10. Most coral reefs grow just about two centimeters per year.

10 Fun Facts: Invasive Species

1. To be considered invasive, a species must adapt to a new area easily. It must reproduce quickly. It must harm property, the economy, or the native plants and animals of the region.

2. Some invasive species are introduced accidentally, but others are brought deliberately.

3. Ship ballast water transports between 3,000 and 7,000 foreign species daily around the globe.

4. The total loss to the world economy as a result of invasive non-native species has been estimated at 5% of annual production

5. Invasive species have contributed to 40% of the animal extinctions that have occurred in the last 400 years.

6. Rodents are some of the worst invasive species.

7. There are an estimated 50,000 wild ring-necked parakeets in parks across London and southeast England.

8. Black and Norway rats annually consume stored grains and destroy other property valued over $19 billion.

9. Northern Pacific seastars reproduce very quickly. In one area where they were introduced, their population reached an estimated 12 million seastars in just two years.

10. Starlings were introduced to New York in the late 1800s, as part of an attempt to bring animals that were mentioned in Shakespeare‘s work to America.

Alert: Cuteness Overload!

Cutest animal in the ocean? Keep your Sea Otter. Forget the Dumbo Octopus. Axolotl? Close, but no cigar.

The winner of the Cutest Sea Animal prize is the Leaf Sheep Slug.

Yes, a slug. This tiny (5mm) animal, found near the Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan, looks like a cartoon sheep covered in bright green leaves with pinkish purple tips.

Bonus: it’s one of the only animals that can perform photosynthesis, thanks to all the algae it eats.

Beat that.

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