The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced HOO-ee) is a private, nonprofit
research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
Its agenda includes: geological activity deep within the earth; plant, animal, and microbial
populations and their interactions in the ocean; coastal erosion; ocean circulation;
ocean pollution; and global climate change. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts,
it is the largest independent oceanographic research institution in the U.S., with staff
and students numbering about 1,000.
== Constitution == The Institution is organized into six departments,
the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Ocean Research, and a marine policy center.
Its shore-based facilities are located in the village of Woods Hole, Massachusetts,
United States and a mile and a half away on the Quissett Campus. The bulk of the Institution's
funding comes from grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation and other
government agencies, augmented by foundations and private donations.
WHOI scientists, engineers, and students collaborate to develop theories, test ideas, build seagoing
instruments, and collect data in diverse marine environments. Ships operated by WHOI carry
research scientists throughout the world’s oceans. The WHOI fleet includes two large
research vessels (Atlantis) and Neil Armstrong , the coastal craft Tioga, small research
craft such as the dive-operation work boat Echo, the deep-diving human-occupied submersible
Alvin, the tethered, remotely operated vehicle Jason/Medea, and autonomous underwater vehicles
such as the REMUS and SeaBED. WHOI offers graduate and post-graduate studies
in marine science. There are several fellowship and trainee-ship programs, and graduate degrees
are awarded through a joint program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
or by the Institution itself. WHOI also offers other outreach programs and informal public
education through its Exhibit Center and summer tours. The Institution has a volunteer program
and a membership program, WHOI Associate. On October 1, 2015, Mark Abbott became the
institution's tenth president and director.
== History ==
In 1927, a National Academy of Sciences committee concluded that it was time to "consider the
share of the United States of America in a worldwide program of oceanographic research."
The committee's recommendation for establishing a permanent independent research laboratory
on the East Coast to "prosecute oceanography in all its branches" led to the founding in
1930 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.A $2.5 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation
supported the summer work of a dozen scientists, construction of a laboratory building and
commissioning of a research vessel, the 142-foot (43 m) ketch Atlantis, whose profile still
forms the Institution's logo.WHOI grew substantially to support significant defense-related research
during World War II, and later began a steady growth in staff, research fleet, and scientific
stature. Over the years, WHOI scientists have made seminal discoveries about the ocean that
have contributed to improving US commerce, health, national security, and quality of
life. In 1977 the institute appointed the influential
oceanographer John Steele as director, and he served until his retirement in 1989.On
1 September 1985, a joint French-American expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel of IFREMER
and Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution identified the location of the
wreck of the RMS Titanic which sank off the coast of Newfoundland 15 April 1912.
On 3 April 2011, within a week of resuming of the search operation for Air France Flight
447, a team led by WHOI, operating full ocean depth autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)
owned by the Waitt Institute discovered, by means of sidescan sonar, a large portion of
debris field from flight AF447.In March 2017 the institution effected an open-access policy
to make its research publicly accessible online.The Institution has maintained a long and controversial
business collaboration with the treasure hunter company Odyssey Marine . Likewise, WHOI has
participated in the location of the San José galleon in Colombia for the commercial exploitation
of the shipwreck by the Government of President Santos and a private company.
== Awards issued ==
=== B H Ketchum Award ===
The B H Ketchum award, established in 1983, is presented for innovative coastal/nearshore
research and is named in honor of oceanographer Bostwick H. "Buck" Ketchum. The first recipient
was Edward D. Goldberg in 1984.
=== Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal in Oceanography ===
The Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal in Oceanography was established in 1960 in honor of the first
Director, biologist Henry Bryant Bigelow. Recipients have been:
2004 David M. Karl (Professor of Oceanography, University of Hawaii) – for "his contributions
to microbial oceanography, especially the development and leadership of long-term, integrated
studies of chemical, physical, and biological variations in oceanic environments."
1996 Bill J. Jenkins (Senior Scientist, Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry, WHOI) – for "his
outstanding contributions to the development of the tritium-helium dating technique and
its application to problems in ocean physics and biology and geochemistry, as well as his
exceptional character and selfless dedication to the advance of science at WHOI."
1993 Robert Weller (Senior Scientist, Physical Oceanography;Director, CICOR; WHOI)
1992 Alice Louise Alldredge (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Mary Wilcox
Silver (University of California, Santa Cruz) – for “their creative contributions to
biological and chemical oceanography, particularly in demonstrating the importance of ‘marine
snow’ as a major contributor to the vertical flux of particulate matter throughout the
worlds oceans.” 1988 Hans Thomas Rossby (University of Rhode
Island) and Douglas Chester Webb (Webb Research) – for “Their creative contributions to
ocean technology and oceanography, particularly in the development of the SOFAR float and
advancing out knowledge of Lagrangian ocean dynamics.”
1984 Arnold L. Gordon (Columbia University) for his “dedication in completing the Antarctic
Circumpolar Survey” 1980 Holger W. Jannasch (WHOI) – for his
“creative contributions to marine microbiology by providing us with an understanding of the
fundamentals of microbial processes in the sea and the dynamics of oceanic food chains.”
1979 Wolfgang Helmut Berger (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California
at San Diego) – for his “creative contributions to paleoceanography by opening the doors of
perception on the controlling factors governing carbonate sedimentation in the oceans, and
for providing us with a unifying conceptual model for interpreting the geological evolution
of ocean basins.” 1974 Henry M. Stommel (WHOI)
1970 Frederick J. Vine (WHOI) – In recognition of his “imaginative and sound contributions
to man’s understanding of the formative processes active within the earth.”
1966 Columbus O'D Iselin (WHOI) 1964 Bruce C. Heezen (WHOI)
1962 John C. Swallow (WHOI) 1960 Henry Bryant Bigelow
== Research fleet ==
=== Ships ===
WHOI operates several research vessels, owned by the United States Navy, the National Science
Foundation, or the Institution:
R/V Atlantis (AGOR-25) – 274 feet long, mothership of the Alvin submarine
R/V Tioga (WHOI-owned) – 60 feet long RV Neil Armstrong (AGOR-27) – 238 feet long
=== Small boat fleet ===
WHOI operates many small boats used in inland harbors, ponds, rivers, and coastal bays.
All are owned by the Institution itself.
Motorboat Echo – 29 feet long (mainly used as a work boat to support dive operations,
also the newest small research craft at WHOI) Motorboat Mytilus – 24 feet long (mainly
used in water too shallow for larger craft and is a versatile coastal research boat)
Motorboat Calanus – 21 feet long (mainly used in local water bodies such as Great Harbor,
Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay) Motorboat Limulus – 13 feet long (mainly
used to shuttle equipment to larger craft and as a work platform for near-shore research
tasks) Rowboat Orzrus – 12 feet long (mainly used
in harbors and ponds where motor craft are not permitted)
=== Underwater vehicles ===
WHOI also has developed numerous underwater autonomous and remotely operated vehicles
for research:
Alvin (DSV-2) – human-occupied vehicle, the Institution's most well-known equipment
Deepsea Challenger – human-occupied vehicle designed, field-tested, and later donated
to the WHOI by Canadian film director James Cameron
Jason – a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Sentry – an autonomous underwater vehicle
(AUV) and successor to ABE Nereus – A hybrid remotely operated vehicle
(HROV); lost on 5/10/14 while exploring the Kermadec Trench.
Remus – Remote Environment Monitoring UnitS, a family of autonomous underwater vehicles
SeaBED – an autonomous underwater vehicle optimized for high-resolution seafloor imaging
Spray Glider – a remotely operated vehicle, used to collect data about the salinity, temperature,
etc. about an area Slocum Glider – another remotely operated
vehicle, with functions similar to the functions of the Spray Glider
CAMPER – a towed vehicle used to collect samples from the seabed of the Arctic Ocean
Seasoar – a submarine towed by a ship TowCam – a submarine with cameras that is
towed by a ship along the ocean floor to take photographs
Video Plankton Recorder – a submarine with microscopic camera systems, towed along by
a ship to take videos of plankton Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) – an autonomous
underwater vehicle
== See also ==
52-hertz whale Liquid Jungle Lab, a tropical research station
in Pacific Panama operated by WHOI Marine Biological Laboratory, a neighboring
but administratively unrelated institution in Woods Hole
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a similar research facility associated with the University
of California, San Diego and located in La Jolla, California
The Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, a smaller oceanographic facility located at
Rutgers University in New Jersey