Woods Hole Oceanographic Exhibit Center

A trip to Woods Hole affords you a visit to the incredible discoveries of the world-famous research institution called the Woods Hole Oceanographic (WHOI). In the midst of the many scientific research buildings in Woods Hole sits the Ocean Science Exhibit Center and Gift Shop.

The exhibit center informs visitors on WHOI’s research and inventions and includes a gift shop with WHOI merchandise. The exhibit center includes exhibits on the Titanic, whale and dolphins research, hydrothermal vents, toxic algae, ocean floor sediment that can help us to better understand climate changes, and much more.

The Ocean Science Exhibit Center provides an opportunity for anyone to learn about WHOI’s ocean science research and the tools and vessels developed for the research. The exhibit center includes videos about living in WHOI’s deep submersible Alvin. The videos especially focus on the 1985-1986 discovery and exploration of the Titanic. Aside from the videos – visitors are able to step inside of a life-size model of the inner sphere of Alvin, which includes amazing footage of deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites. Other exhibits include further information on the deep sea.

Located in the Exhibit Center is the WHOI Gift Shop. The shop carries WHOI merchandise, books, toys, and jewelry. All of the proceeds are donated to WHOI for their research, education, and outreach activities.

The Ocean Science Exhibit Center is located on 15 School Street in Woods Hole – hours vary seasonally. There is no official fee for a visit to the Ocean Science Exhibit Center, however a two-dollar donation is encouraged.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Exhibit Center and Gift Shop sits right off of School Street in Woods Hole.

Meet the Blogger

Meet our summer intern and blogger, Lauren Hoyerman, who will be a senior this fall at Falmouth Academy.  Lauren shares with us a passion for Woods Hole, a love that is rooted in her appreciation of the physical beauty of the area, her interest in photography and the knowledge she has gained living in one of the most cutting-edge science communities in the US.

“It’s impossible to grow up near Woods Hole and not become interested in science,” said Hoyerman who has worked as an intern at almost all of Woods Hole’s science centers including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), the Marine Biological Laboratories (MBL), and the Woods Hole Research Center.

Our blogger Lauren Hoyerman and her teacher Jo Muller taking a core out from the Quissett Peat Marsh.

Our blogger and her classmate as they count desert algae cells.

Hoyerman shared more about her favorite Woods Hole science project: “Last year, my junior year at FA, I worked at the Woods Hole Research Center alongside amazing mentors, Josef Kellndorfer, Wayne Walker, and Greg Fiske. I have always been interested in environmental science and knew I wanted to work with a hands on project. After a few brainstorm sessions I found myself in the midst of a massive carbon assessment forestry project. “

“For the entire fall and early winter I ventured into forests all over Falmouth and measured the widths and heights of 1,500 trees. Using that information I was able to calculate the carbon storage availability of Falmouth forests and gain a better understanding of how much carbon storage Cape Cod has lost throughout the years.”

Hoyerman measuring a tree’s height with a laser back in East Falmouth.

“I was able to make a rough estimate that the loss of carbon storage availability from 1830 to 2003 was around 7, 320, and 000 tons of carbon. The substantial loss was not entirely surprising because of course after the industrial revolution Cape Cod’s landscape drastically changed, “ said the young scientist.

“Although I calculated a few other changes, my project primarily focused on the validation of a previously existing work national biomass carbon data set map. After months of field and calculations I was finally able to extract map values from the WHRC’s map and compare them to my own measurements.  The correlation between my data and the national set was extraordinary.  What a joy to work on such a project with amazing mentors like the scientists you find here in Woods Hole, “ concluded Hoyerman.

The Woods Hole Business Association is honored to be working with this independent and industrious young woman.  You will see her around the village, camera in hand, and enjoy her lovely pictures and blog-posts, right here on WoodsHole.com.

Emperor Penguins in the News

Emperor penguin struts his stuff.

Woods Hole is the epicenter of global warming research, and the latest news this week strikes close to our hearts as local scientists announce research indicating emperor penguins now face shrinking habitats.

Stéphanie Jenouvrier and other biologists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) recently studied a colony of emperor penguins at Terre Adélie in East Antarctica. The WHOI researchers wrote of their results in Global Change Biology and stated, “Overall, the ensemble of models predicts that population declines are far more likely than population increases. We conclude that climate change is a significant risk for the emperor penguin.”

The sea ice that rings the Antarctic is crucial for Emperor penguins survival. Due to global warming this ice is melting – leading to devastating effects for the penguins. Sea ice is not only important for penguins, but for many other living organisms within the food chain. In addition, melting sea ice also makes scientific research difficult.

While Arctic sea ice has declined, the West Antarctic Peninsula has warmed even more. In fact, one emperor penguin colony has completely vanished. The harmful decrease in sea ice is primarily due to global warming – making global warming all the more real and unsettling.

Researchers from WHOI, who observed the specific colony created a mathematical model that ultimately predicted the emperor penguin colony to decline from a present day 3,000 breeding pairs to a mere 575 breeding pairs by 2100. It’s hard to imagine that within 88 years an entire penguin colony could decline so significantly.

WHOI biologist, Stephanie Jenouvrier holds an Emperor penguin chick.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s work really hit close to home – thinking that these flightless birds will only decrease in population. We can only hope that our efforts against global warming will increase and mitigate the expected outcome – helping save not only the penguins but also their ecosystem.

Maybe one day Woods Hole will even see one of these adorable birds at the Woods Hole Aquarium?

Source: http://www.livescience.com/21063-emperor-penguin-decline-antarctica.html