A non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California. http://www.mbari.org/rssfeed.xml Miles below the ocean surface, diverse ecosystems flourish at hydrothermal vents. Without sunlight, animals live off of bacteria that thrive on chemicals billowing out of the Earth's crust. These strange communities appear entirely detached from life on land. However, new research from MBARI biologist Bob Vrijenhoek suggests that vent ecosystems might be more sensitive to global environmental change than scientists originally thought. Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/vent-fossils/vent-fossils.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/vent-fossils/vent-fossils.html Killing wildlife and occasionally sickening people, harmful algal blooms can be more than just a nuisance. The ECOHAB (Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms) research program is providing key information that may one day allow researchers to predict when and where blooms are likely to occur. During March 2013, ECOHAB researchers will be conducting a month-long study of harmful algal blooms in Southern California, using a variety of oceanographic tools and techniques developed at MBARI. Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/ecohab/ecohab.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/ecohab/ecohab.html A surge in jellyfish blooms over the past decade has spawned similar blooms of public fascination with these sea drifters and their apparent saturation of our oceans. Images of fish nets and nuclear-plant intake pipes clogged with gelatinous sacks of tentacles have flared concerns for fisheries and public safety. But recent work from an international team of marine scientists, including MBARI biologist Steve Haddock, suggests that this recent population explosion might only reflect half of the jellyfish story. Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/jellies/jellies.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/jellies/jellies.html The open ocean contains an amazing diversity of extremely tiny organisms called picoplankton. A new paper by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) uses cutting-edge genomic research to show how these infinitesimal creatures react in synchrony to changes in their environment. Fri, 1 Feb 2013 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/gene-synchrony/gene-synchrony.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/gene-synchrony/gene-synchrony.html Hidden beneath ocean waves and masked by sand and mud on the seafloor, underwater faults are notoriously difficult to see and even more difficult to study. As a result, geologists struggle to evaluate the risks associated with these faults and often can't include them in seismic hazard assessments. Now, with improved technology available for underwater imaging, MBARI geologist Charlie Paull and his colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey have brought some of these hidden faults into view for the first time. Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/SDTFZ/SDTFZ.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2013/SDTFZ/SDTFZ.html Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) will present 21 different talks and posters at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco during the week of December 3 to 7, 2012. This page highlights a few of these presentations. Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/agu2012/agu2012.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/agu2012/agu2012.html Ten thousand feet below the ocean's surface, the seafloor is a dark, desolate, and dangerous place where even the most benign-looking creatures can be deadly predators. Recently, a team of scientists discovered an unlikely new carnivorous species—the harp sponge (Chondrocladia lyra). Wed, 31 Sep 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/harp-sponge/harp-sponge.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/harp-sponge/harp-sponge.html About 100 years ago, marine biologists hauled the first vampire squid up from the depths of the sea. Since that time, perhaps a dozen scientific papers have been published on this mysterious animal, but no one has been able to figure out exactly what it eats. A new paper by MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Henk-Jan Hoving and Senior Scientist Bruce Robison shows for the first time that the vampire squid uses two thread-like filaments to capture bits of organic debris that sink down from the ocean surface into the deep sea. Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2012/vampfood/vampfood-release.html http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2012/vampfood/vampfood-release.html Several hundred researchers and decision-makers from around the world are gathering in Monterey this week for the Third International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World. During this four-day conference, leading experts and decision makers are discussing the latest scientific findings and implications of ocean acidification. MBARI researchers have been instrumental in the planning of this conference, and are describing their cutting-edge research in a variety of talks and posters at the meeting. Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/high-co2/high-co2.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/high-co2/high-co2.html In the remote, ice-shrouded Beaufort Sea, methane (the main component in natural gas) has been bubbling out of the seafloor for thousands of years. MBARI geologist Charlie Paull and his colleagues at the Geological Survey of Canada are trying to figure out where this gas is coming from, how fast it is bubbling out of the sediments, and how it affects the shape and stability of the seafloor. Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/paull-arctic/paull-arctic.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/paull-arctic/paull-arctic.html This month MBARI researchers are conducting a two-week-long, in-depth oceanographic experiment to track the nutrients that fertilize algal blooms off the coast of Central California. As part of MBARI's ongoing CANON (Controlled, agile, and novel observing network) initiative, scientists will be examining how ammonium—a key nutrient for microscopic marine algae—affects what researchers call the ocean's "biological pump." Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/canon-fall/canon2012.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/canon-fall/canon2012.html “One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish”—with a bulbous body and spiky scales, a shaggy lure dangling from its head, and foot-like fins that it uses to “walk” along the seafloor, the deep-sea anglerfish Chaunacops coloratus looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. In a recent paper, MBARI researcher Lonny Lundsten and his coauthors describe the first observations of these rare fish in their natural, deep-sea habitat. In addition to documenting these fish walking on the seafloor and fishing with their built-in lures, the researchers discovered that the fish change color from blue to red as they get older. Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/chaunacops/chaunacops.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/chaunacops/chaunacops.html Many experiments have documented the effects of ocean acidification in the laboratory, but few have been performed in the natural environment. A recent article in Scientific Reports describes the first controlled field experiment to test the effects of acidification on coral reefs—a multi-institutional effort that involved several MBARI engineers and was based on pioneering work at MBARI. Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/cpfoce/cpfoce.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/cpfoce/cpfoce.html Axial seamount, 480 km (300 miles) off the coast of northern Oregon, is one of the best studied underwater volcanoes in the world. Now MBARI researchers have created the world's most detailed map of an underwater lava flow, showing lava that erupted from Axial Seamount during April 2011. They describe this mapping effort and related geological discoveries in a recent paper in Nature Geoscience. Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/axial-mapping/axial-mapping.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/axial-mapping/axial-mapping.html “As the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) descended into the blue depths above the Alarcón Rise, the control room was abuzz with anticipation," wrote MBARI geologist Julie Martin in her April 22nd cruise log. "Today we [are] planning to dive on one of the strangest environments in the deep sea: a hydrothermal vent field.” Adding to the team’s excitement was the fact that this hydrothermal vent field had never been explored before. In fact, it had only just been discovered... by a robot. Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/auv-mapping/vent-discovery.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/auv-mapping/vent-discovery.html MBARI engineer Andy Hamilton looks out his office window in Moss Landing and points at the waves crashing on the beach below. “Pretty impressive, aren’t they? You’d think there’d be a way to make use of all that energy.” Since 2009, Hamilton has led a team of engineers trying to do just that. Their goal is not to replace the hulking power plant that overlooks Moss Landing Harbor, but to provide a more generous supply of electricity for oceanographic instruments in Monterey Bay. Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/powerbuoy/powerbuoy.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/powerbuoy/powerbuoy.html With its ability to detect ocean events ranging from sewage spills to harmful algal blooms, MBARI's Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) has immense potential for monitoring ocean water quality. Until recently, however, only a limited number of these instruments have been available. With the recent commercialization of this device, ESPs are now being tested for day-to-day ocean monitoring at several sites around the world. During May 2012, two new ESPs were installed in Tasman Bay, New Zealand, and in the Gulf of Maine. Wed, 9 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/esp-cawthron/esp-cawthron.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/esp-cawthron/esp-cawthron.html Mountain climbers know that changes in temperature and pressure can affect their energy level and their ability to breathe. Animals that live in the deep sea face similar challenges when scientists bring them to the surface for study. To address this problem, MBARI researchers have developed a new instrument that allows them to study the breathing of deep-sea animals without removing the animals from their environment. Tue, 1 May 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/mrs/midwater-resp.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/mrs/midwater-resp.html Adding new instruments to an oceanographic mooring or underwater observatory can be a difficult and time-consuming process. To simplify this process, MBARI engineers developed a communication protocol called PUCK, which allows a host computer to recognize an instrument and begin accepting data from it immediately, in much the same way that a personal computer recognizes when a camera or other device is attached to one of its USB ports. In early 2012, the PUCK team was rewarded for its efforts when an international standards organization known as the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) approved the PUCK protocol as a new standard. Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/puck/puck.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/puck/puck.html Tiny animals called zooplankton swarm like insects in the coastal waters of the ocean. They provide dinner for a host of larger animals, ranging from fish to whales. But these microscopic organisms also challenge the scientists who study them because they are constantly drifting with the movement of ocean currents. A recent paper describes how scientists at MBARI employed a pair of high-tech robots to detect these elusive, minute creatures. Fri, 9 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/esp-zooplankton/esp-zooplankton.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/esp-zooplankton/esp-zooplankton.html Anyone who has visited MBARI's YouTube channel knows that the institute has amassed a spectacular collection of deep-sea footage. But sometimes it takes more than just raw footage to convey scientific concepts to the viewer. A video produced by MBARI marine biologist Steve Haddock and research technician Susan von Thun does just that, providing scientific information along with beautiful images and video to show the relationships between the different types of gelatinous organisms in the ocean. Haddock and von Thun's video, "There’s No Such Thing as a Jellyfish," won honorable mention in the National Science Foundation's 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/jellies-award.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/jellies-award.html Luminous jellies and mysterious squid that inhabit a world of almost no light or oxygen; undersea volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, and earthquake faults; layers of natural gas frozen into an ice-like solid in the seafloor. All these can be found in the depths of the Gulf of California. Following up on tantalizing discoveries made during a 2003 trip to the gulf, MBARI researchers will be returning to the little-explored region in February 2012 for a three-month expedition. Web visitors can read the scientists’ daily research updates and follow their progress on the expedition homepage. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/goc2012/goc.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/goc2012/goc.html On January 30, 2012, a group of researchers led by MBARI marine biologist Ken Smith and engineer Alana Sherman left Bermuda and sailed south into the Sargasso Sea. This is Smith's third research expedition to this region using the research vessel Lone Ranger, operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/sargassum3/sargasso3.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2012/sargassum3/sargasso3.html For over 20 years, the Point Lobos has been MBARI's workhorse research vessel, ferrying the remotely operated vehicle Ventana out of Moss Landing Harbor several times a week. During a remarkable 3,697 cruises, the Point Lobos helped researchers record thousands of hours of video, identify dozens of strange and unusual animals, and deploy hundreds of instruments in the depths of Monterey Bay. On December 1, 2011, the Point Lobos completed its final research cruise. Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0700 http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2011/PointLobos/lobos-tribute.html http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2011/PointLobos/lobos-tribute.html