unincorporated village in Falmouth town (township), Barnstable county, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies at the southwestern end of Cape Cod (Cod, Cape). Woods Hole is the cape's principal port and a point of departure for the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Within the village are the renowned Marine Biological Laboratory (1888) and its offshoot, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1930). Also in Woods Hole are the National Marine Fisheries Service (which includes an aquarium) and a field centre of the United States Geological Survey, as well as museums of oceanography, whaling, and local history. The Nobska Lighthouse, off the coast, was installed in 1829.