US Invests $3.9 Million for Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators
, $250,000.MassachusettsVentureWell Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerator, VentureWell, $249,810.Accelerating Climate & Ocean Resilience with Bluetech Innovation, SeaAhead, Inc., $249,299.Accelerating Resilience: Linking Research, Industry, and the Public Across the Value Chain, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, $225,480.New YorkThe National Ocean Renewable Power Accelerator - RePower, National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium, $249,991.VirginiaOpenSeas Data Accelerator, Old Dominion University Research Foundation, $249,816.NOAA Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerator
Weather Data Gathering Project Underway for US Offshore Wind
, collected alongside weather and ocean data, will improve our understanding of movement patterns and provide insight into the potential effects of offshore wind construction on wildlife in the region.WFIP3 is funded by DOE and NOAA and led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with over 15 partners including national laboratories, universities, industry, and cooperation from local governments. The wildlife monitoring is a project of Duke University with funding from DOE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.Upon completion of the data collection campaign
WHOI Board Chair Paul Salem Gives $25 Million for Ocean-based Climate Solutions
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) announced a $25 million gift to support ocean-based climate solutions from the chair of the Institution’s board of trustees, Paul Salem. Salem’s commitment brings the total funding received by WHOI over the past three years for ocean and climate research to more than $85 million. A growing focus of these efforts is the advancement of environmental monitoring, reporting, and verification (eMRV) capabilities to keep pace with a booming market for carbon credits, some of which rely on carbon capture by the ocean.“There is a tidal wave
Sonardyne Holds Seabed Deformation Technical Workshop
members of the Sonardyne academic user community in the USA and Canada to share insights, experiences and how its GNSS-A and AZA instruments can be further improved to meet future needs.These included; Ocean Networks Canada, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Georgia Institute of Technology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Washington, as well as our hosts Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. As well as providing the stunning backdrop for this event, Scripps Institution of Oceanography furnished instruments for the workshop from the large pool of our equipment.GNSS-A
DISCOVERY: High-Res Mapping Tech Helps Find New Hydrothermal Vent Field
chemicals they emit and the animals that live on them. Copyright: Schmidt Ocean InstituteThe science team used the technologies to also revisit the world’s first discovered hydrothermal vent field, known as Rose Garden, which was found in 1977. A 2002 expedition to the site onboard Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s R/V Atlantis determined that Rose Garden is no longer active, after it was paved over by lava from a volcanic eruption. A subsequent expedition with the E/V Nautilus in 2015 visited the site and discovered evidence of low-temperature venting, but did not locate the source
In Memoriam: Captain Don Walsh
pilot.The Society for Underwater Technology and Marine Technology Society will continue to honor Walsh through the annual Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration. Dr Peter Girguis, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Adjunct Oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, was announced the winner of the 2023 Captain Don Walsh Award in August
Op/Ed: We Cannot Let the OceanGate Tragedy Put a Pause on Ocean Exploration
underwater systems and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).Ocean exploration is about much more than the purpose of OceanGate’s expedition – adventure tourism. At stake are the immense benefits to national, natural, and economic security of such activity. Consider the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s human occupied vehicle Alvin. For over six decades, the Office of Naval Research has sponsored research using the submersible to gain valuable technical knowledge for the U.S. Navy’s undersea warfare capabilities. Similarly, for over two decades NOAA’s Office Ocean
Threat to Whales Complicates US Research into Seaweed for Biofuel
to corn-based ethanol, proponents say.But whale biologists are worried. As with traditional lobster fishing, seaweed farms involve fields of ropes strung up underwater for the kelp to grow on.While there hasn't yet been a documented case of a whale getting tangled in seaweed ropes, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution marine biologist Michael Moore is worried: "Wherever there's rope in the water column, there is entanglement risk," he says.Fueling upFor the United States, seaweed aquaculture is still a nascent business, but growing fast. U.S. farmers produced 440 metric tons in 2021
Expedition Taps New Tech to Check Deep-Sea Coral Health
known in Puerto Rican waters and may have identified several suspected new species of corals, collecting over 300 samples across 75 different species. Research will be conducted in the coming months to identify and name any new species.The 20-day expedition included researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Lehigh University, and the University of Puerto Rico, and aimed to assess the health of mesophotic corals, in low light from 200 to 500 feet (60 to 150 meters), to deep-sea corals from 60 to 6,500 feet (20 to 2,000 meters), utilizing a new technology called SOLARIS, which stands
February 2024
