This week, MBARI welcomed marine science students and early-career professionals from the Monterey Area Research Institutions’ Network for Education to an immersive day of networking and professional development.

Over the past month, MBARI researchers have detected the first signals of an extreme El Niño in Central California: an influx of warm water and sightings of southern species.

During a recent expedition aboard our flagship research vessel, MBARI scientists encountered a deep-sea barreleye, a unique fish with a transparent head.

The team wraps up our fieldwork in Milos with a trove of new data about hydrothermal vents in Paleochori Bay.

Can a fiber-optic cable help us understand how gas escapes from the seafloor? This is one of the questions we have been exploring during the DASH experiment in Paleochori Bay.

New research published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society by a team of scientists from MBARI, the University of Gdańsk, New York University, and Yale University uses museum material, submersible observations, and genomic sequencing to review the diversity of deep-sea Bargmannia siphonophores, revealing two previously unknown species.

With a few days of fieldwork under our belt, Milos is starting to feel like home.

Studying the deep sea reveals unexpected forms of biodiversity.

MBARI President and CEO Antje Boetius has been awarded the title of Knight of the French National Order of Merit, recognizing her contributions to ocean science and policy.

Collaboration among the ship’s crew, ROV pilots, and scientists facilitates the study of the beautiful diversity of deep-sea sponges.

Studying siphonophores closely can reveal hidden diversity and important functions.

Check comms, enable sensors, activate thrusters, prep controllers—MOLA is ready for its first dive surveying a hydrothermal vent field in Paleochori Bay.

Gelatinous animals from the surface to the depths interact with light in a variety of ways.

MBARI researchers head to Greece for a new collaboration that will deploy innovative technologies to map and monitor coastal vents that burp gas from the seafloor.

In a new paper in the scientific journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, MBARI Senior Scientist Kelly Benoit-Bird and former MBARI postdoctoral fellow William Oestreich review the factors shaping the collective behavior of marine animals in pelagic environments.

Blue-water diving reveals warm-water species that are rare visitors to Central California.

Last week, MBARI President and CEO Antje Boetius participated in the 2026 Arctic Circle Assembly. She took part in a plenary discussion exploring how science is providing tools and information that Arctic nations and communities need to guide decision-making about their future.

In a new publication in the scientific journal Ecology, Senior Scientist Bruce Robison reports how the swimming sea cucumber Pelagothuria natatrix interrupts the transport of carbon to the abyssal seafloor in the Galápagos Islands, highlighting the important role of marine life in the ocean’s carbon cycle.

The California Academy of Sciences has named MBARI Senior Scientist Kelly Benoit-Bird a 2026 Fellow, recognizing her contributions to the field of marine ecology to advance the Academy’s mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

MBARI has named Lisa Levin—distinguished professor emerita at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego—the 2026 David Packard Distinguished Lecturer. This award celebrates Levin’s extensive contributions to advancing deep-sea science and policy.