Midwater
Deep sea squid and octopuses
Stephanie Bush is working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium on their exhibit “Tentacles: The Lives of Octopuses, Cuttlefishes, and Squid”, that opened in April 2014.
Food web dynamics
The goal of the food web research is to further describe the complex structure and functioning of the deep sea food web off Central California, with a primary focus on the role of understudied midwater animals.
Respiration studies
The oxygen content of the entire world ocean is falling. To investigate the consequences of this large-scale change, MBARI scientists are exploring a characteristic attribute of the oceanic water column in Monterey Bay called the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ).
Bristle worms get their turn
Jul 1, 2015 – An amazing variety of bristle worms thrive in the ocean, both on the seafloor and up in the water column. Here are some examples of the bizarre and wonderful polychaetes that MBARI researchers have seen in the ocean depths.
Midwater ecology group
The reward of regular investigations of midwater ecology with an ROV is a radically new perspective on the deep sea. Many of MBARI’s most stunning discoveries have come from the time-series data of midwater ROV surveys. We have logged thousands of hours surveying and describing the deep waters of the ocean.
Midwater time series
MBARI’s midwater time series provides specific data to investigate the natural variability of oceanic communities at depths below the mixed layer.
Vampire squid live long and reproduce often
Apr 22, 2015 – Female squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish end life with a bang. Usually, these soft-bodied cephalopods die after a single, end-of-life reproductive blaze of glory. But scientists have recently learned that one deep-red, foot-long cephalopod breaks this deadly pattern.
Juvenile squid avoids predators by imitating stinging jellies
Dec 10, 2014 – In the deep waters of the ocean, there are no places to hide. To avoid predators, many deep-sea animals have dark-colored, reflective, or transparent bodies. Others have evolved elaborate methods of deception.
Zooplankton biodiversity group
The ocean’s midwater zone is dominated by gelatinous predators such as ctenophores, siphonophores, and hydromedusae. Researchers contend that these gelatinous groups will become increasingly abundant as the ocean changes.
Deep-sea octopus broods eggs for over four years—longer than any known animal
Jul 30, 2014 – Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have observed a deep-sea octopus brooding its eggs for four and one half years—longer than any other known animal.
MBARI researchers discover what vampire squids eat (it’s not what you think)
Sept 26, 2012 – In the 100 years since marine biologists hauled the first vampire squid up from the depths of the sea, 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.
About MBARI
Research programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) encompass the entire ocean, from the surface waters to the deep seafloor, and from the coastal zone to the open sea. The need to understand the ocean in all its complexity and variability drives MBARI's research and development efforts.