News from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

MBARI video wins international award

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

MBARI researchers return to the Gulf of California

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

MBARI researchers sail the Sargasso Sea.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

A farewell tribute to the research vessel Point Lobos

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Seafloor-mapping robot yields a host of new geologic discoveries

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Researchers will describe the achievements of MBARI's seafloor-mapping robot, and others, in 10 different presentations at this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Applications now being accepted for MBARI's 2012 Summer Internship Program

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:00:00 -0700

MBARI offers 10-week internships to educators, undergraduates, and graduate students. Each intern will work under a mentor on a specific science, engineering, or communication project.

Turning tides on ocean acidification

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:00:00 -0700

Marine researchers want to know the effects of an increasingly acidic ocean, and have turned to two tide pool dwellers for some insight. It appears that mussels and purple sea urchins could tell scientists how marine life might adapt to changes in ocean acidity. These two key invertebrates have three things going for them: an intertidal home, a well-understood genome, and a calcium carbonate shell.

A bountiful harvest of deep-sea acorn worms

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:00:00 -0700

Acorn worms have historically been thought of as shallow-water animals that live in burrows in muddy-bottom areas. Only four species were known to live in deep water. However, a recent paper by MBARI collaborator Karen Osborn and her coauthors shows that acorn worms live in the deep ocean environments around the world. The paper introduces at least thirteen new species of these intriguing animals.

First controlled experiments on ocean acidification in the deep sea

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:00:00 -0700

After six years of design and testing, MBARI scientists have a sophisticated new tool for studying the effects of ocean acidification on deep-sea animals. This complex system, the Free-Ocean Carbon Enrichment (FOCE) experiment, is the only experiment in the world that allows researchers to study ocean-acification impacts on deep-sea animals in their native habitat, using free-flowing seawater.

MBARI dances to another beat

Mon, 7 Nov 2011 16:00:00 -0700

It's hard to imagine two fields of endeavor that have less in common than ocean research and modern dance. This weekend, audiences in Monterey County will be treated to the premiere performance of a program bringing the two fields together, the result of a collaboration between the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and SpectorDance. The moving piece, Ocean, is the brainchild of choreographer and artistic director Fran Spector Atkins.

Widespread floats provide pieces of the oceanic productivity puzzle

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:00:00 -0700

Ken Johnson uses chemistry to study biology. This unusual approach is helping him understand why and how much microscopic algae grow in different parts of the world ocean. Ideally, to get enough data, he needs to sample everywhere, simultaneously and continuously. By enlisting the help of some robotic floats, Johnson is on track to doing just that—and all from the comfort of his office chair.

Fangs in the deep

Thu, 6 Oct 2011 16:00:00 -0700

Carnivorous deep-sea fish may not encounter prey for days or weeks at a time. When they do grab onto a meal, they need to make sure it won't get away. That's why many of them have really BIG teeth. MBARI's new video shows a few of these toothy predators, which will either give you nightmares or help you get in the mood for Halloween.

MBARI now accepting applications for Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Wed, 28 Sept 2011 16:00:00 -0700

MBARI is now accepting applications for our 2012 Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Offers will be made to candidates from the fields of biological, chemical, and physical oceanography, marine geology, and ocean engineering. Candidates must be awarded their Ph.D. degree prior to commencing the two-year appointment and start during the 2012 calendar year. Applicants are encouraged to communicate with potential research sponsors at MBARI for guidance on project feasibility, relevance to ongoing research projects, and resource availability. The application deadline is Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Increasing the odds of squid reproduction in the deep sea

Tue, 20 Sept 2011 16:00:00 -0700

Through analysis of video images of the deep-sea squid Octopoteuthis deletron, as well as preserved specimens, researchers discovered that male Octopoteuthis attached their spermatangia (sperm packets) to other males as often as to females of the species. The researchers think that male squid may mate with any member of their species they encounter, which helps these rare animals take advantage of any possible chance to reproduce.

MBARI engineers provide software for new ALOHA ocean observatory

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:00:00 -0700

On June 6, 2011 the ALOHA Cabled Observatory "went live," returning data from instruments on the deep seafloor, about 60 nautical miles north of Oahu, Hawaii, and 4,800 meters below the ocean surface. The torrent of data from these instruments will provide unprecedented information about the deep sea. But first the data must be processed, stored, and archived in a robust shore-side computer system. Fortunately, MBARI engineers have spent over a decade developing computer software and data-management tools that do just this.

MBARI scientists explore the deep sea off Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:00:00 -0700

During July and August 2011, MBARI scientists will use the research vessel Western Flyer and the remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts to explore the deep sea off Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. A multidisciplinary group of MBARI scientists and collaborators will study underwater volcanoes, deep-sea animals, and methane hydrates (frozen mixtures of natural gas and seawater). The public can follow this expedition through daily cruise logs.

Unique three-way partnership yields new ocean-monitoring buoy

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:00:00 -0700

In late May of 2011, MBARI and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s National Data Buoy Center installed a new ocean-monitoring buoy about 30 miles offshore of Monterey Bay. This collaborative effort, brokered by the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System, could pave the way for similar buoys around the country, providing a wealth of new scientific information.

MBARI's 2010 Annual Report — a colorful summary of past, present, and future research

Fri, 20 May 2011 15:00:00 -0700

MBARI's 2010 Annual Report is a "must read" for anyone interested in the institute's cutting-edge expeditions, inventions, and scientific discoveries. It includes beautifully illustrated summaries of MBARI's research projects during 2010. Because many of these projects are continuing in 2011, the report provides great background reading on our current work. It also includes an entire chapter on future research efforts. The report was released this week and is available as a PDF file on MBARI's Publications web page.

Antarctic icebergs help the ocean take up carbon dioxide

Wed, 11 May 2011 15:00:00 -0700

The first comprehensive study of the biological effects of Antarctic icebergs shows that they fertilize the Southern Ocean, enhancing the growth of algae that take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then, through marine food chains, transfer carbon into the deep sea. This process is detailed in 19 new research papers published electronically in a special issue of the journal Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography.

New device helps oceanographers get their instruments back from the depths

Tue, 3 May 2011 15:00:00 -0700

Getting heavy objects down to the seafloor is pretty easy—in a best-case scenario, you just drop them over the side of a ship, and hope that they land right side up on the ocean bottom. However, getting those same objects back to the surface can be problematic. MBARI Marine Operations Technician Mike Conway recently developed a new device called a "line elevator" that will make this process easier. One result will be fewer anchors and other heavy objects sitting on the seafloor of Monterey Bay.

Chinese team tests ocean-observatory equipment in Monterey Bay

Thu, 29 Apr 2011 15:00:00 -0700

On April 21, 2011, after four years of planning, MBARI and a team of Chinese scientists and engineers installed a suite of ocean-observing instruments for testing in Monterey Bay. After several months of testing, components of this system will be installed on a long-term ocean observatory planned for the South China Sea.

MBARI helps create new ocean-monitoring system in New Zealand

Thu, 14 Mar 2011 15:00:00 -0700

On April 11, 2011, a team of researchers installed a small but high-tech ocean-monitoring buoy in Tasman Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island. The new system includes a variety of instruments that measure important properties of seawater, such as temperature, salinity, turbidity, and chlorophyll (an indicator of how much microscopic algae is present). The system also measures ocean currents using a sophisticated current meter mounted on the seafloor. It will be used not just by scientists, but also by local environmental management agencies, aquaculture operators, and even recreational fishers.

Bone-munching worms from the deep sea thrive on fish bones

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:00:00 -0700

A new study by scientists at MBARI, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Occidental College is painting a more complete picture of an extraordinary sea worm that was originally found living on the bones of dead whales. It turns out that these worms are not whale-bone or mammal-bone specialists, but can live off fish bones as well.

MBARI teams with Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to study effects of shipping containers lost at sea

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:00:00 -0700

Each year, an estimated 10,000 shipping containers fall off container ships at sea. No one knows what happens to these containers once they reach the deep seafloor. From March 8 to March 10, 2011, a team of researchers from MBARI and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will use a robotic submarine to study the biological impacts of a shipping container resting on the seafloor about 20 kilometers outside of Monterey Bay.

Blowing the lid off underwater volcanoes

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:00:00 -0700

Nature rarely hands over her secrets without a fight. To complicate matters, sometimes researchers face obstacles that have nothing to do with the vagaries of nature. For David Clague, a geologist at MBARI, what started out as a simple research dive turned into a 12-year quest that overturned a long-held belief about deep-sea volcanoes.

Follow MBARI on Facebook

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:00:00 -0700

Do you enjoy keeping up on the latest fascinating animal videos, undersea robots, and deep-sea expeditions at MBARI? You can now find out about all of these and more on MBARI's new Facebook page )

MBARI video: A deep-sea valentine

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:00:00 -0700

The velvety red of a drifting jelly, the brick red of a vampire squid...many deep-sea creatures exhibit the colors of Valentine's Day. When pursuing the prey object of their desire, deep-sea creatures may use red as camouflage. Wavelengths of light in the red end of the visible spectrum are preferentially absorbed by seawater, and therefore red colors appear black in the deep sea. Red animals disappear into the darkness, enabling them to ambush unsuspecting prey or avoid a hungry predator. In honor of Valentine's Day, MBARI video-lab staff put together this video of pink and red creatures from the deep sea.

Diving into the Sargasso Sea

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:00:00 -0700

The Sargasso Sea is an ocean within an ocean, bounded not by land masses but by a vortex of swirling ocean currents—a place where mats of seaweed drift on the high seas and shelter a unique community of open ocean animals. From February 5 to February 26, 2011, a research team from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute will explore this one-of-a-kind habitat. The public can follow the day-by-day progress of this exciting mid-ocean expedition from MBARI’s Sargasso Sea Expedition web site.

Newly discovered group of algae live in both fresh water and ocean—may have worldwide distribution.

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:00:00 -0700

A team of biologists has discovered an entirely new group of algae living in a wide variety of marine and freshwater environments. This group of algae, which the researchers dubbed "rappemonads," have DNA that is distinctly different from that of other known algae. In fact, humans and mushrooms are more closely related to each other than rappemonads are to some other common algae (such as green algae). Based on their DNA analysis, the researchers believe that they have discovered not just a new species or genus, but a potentially large and novel group of microorganisms.