News archive – 2015

Dec 3, 2015 - MBARI's new Deep-Sea Guide makes it easy for anyone to search MBARI's treasure trove of images and scientific observations of deep-sea animals, seafloor habitats, geological features, and research tools. Previously only available for internal use, the Deep-Sea Guide is now available to scientists and the general public.

Oct 29, 2015 - MBARI divers conduct routine maintenance on the M1 mooring in Monterey Bay. The M1 mooring was installed in 1989 when the Institute was only two years old. Since then, the buoy, equipped with dozens of different scientific instruments, has collected over 25 years of data.

Oct 20, 2015 - MBARI researchers have been monitoring seawater temperatures at our M1 mooring in the middle of Monterey Bay since 1990. Biological oceanographer Francisco Chavez has been analyzing these data to find out how they reflect conditions in the Pacific Ocean as a whole.

Oct 7, 2015 - When remotely operated vehicle Ventana dove near the head of Monterey Canyon yesterday, in the area of intense whale activity, the vehicle was surrounded by the very thing attracting the whales—an incredibly thick school of anchovies.

Aug 18, 2015 - On August 18, researchers on board the research vessel Nautilus used the ROVs Hercules and Argus to dive on the wreck of the USS Macon, a rigid-frame dirigible airship that crashed off the Big Sur coast in 1935.

Jul 31, 2015 - On July 27, Kakani Katija and collaborators Alana Sherman, Dale Graves, Chad Kecy, and Bruce Robison tested DeepPIV (particle image velocimetry) using MBARI's MiniROV. The DeepPIV instrument consists of a laser and optics that can illuminate "slices" through transparent animals (such as larvaceans) using a single plane of light.

Oct 15, 2015 - Underwater avalanches and turbidity currents carry huge amounts of sediment, organic material, and pollutants down submarine canyons and into the deep sea. Yet geologists know very little about how sediment moves during these events.

Oct 15, 2015 - Submarine canyons are notoriously difficult to study because underwater avalanches periodically surge down the bottoms of many canyons, often burying or destroying scientific instruments.

Oct 15, 2015 - Submarine canyons are notoriously difficult to study because underwater avalanches periodically surge down the bottoms of many canyons, often burying or destroying scientific instruments. After more than a decade of placing (and sometimes losing) equipment in Monterey Canyon, MBARI researchers have created a unique new tool to study canyon processes.

Jul 21, 2015 - MBARI researchers were part of a team that recently won second place in the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE, a $2 million world-wide competition to develop an accurate and sustainable pH sensor for monitoring ocean acidification.

Jul 13, 2015 - Last Thursday, MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Stephanie Bush and her team from the Monterey Bay Aquarium went to sea aboard the R/V Rachel Carson in Monterey Bay. They were on a mission to collect octopuses in the genus Opisthoteuthis to be used for species description and display at the aquarium.

Jul 9, 2015 - Marcia McNutt, who led MBARI for 12 years, was nominated this week to lead the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The NAS prepares independent scientific reports for the federal government on science and technology issues.

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.

Jun 26, 2015 - For the second year in a row, MBARI has partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Science Friday, the American Museum of Natural History, and other groups to present a wonderful array of cephalopod images and videos as part of "Cephalopod Week."

Jun 11, 2015 - Last week, a group of MBARI engineers deployed three long-range autonomous underwater vehicles (LRAUVs). Developed at MBARI, LRAUVs can travel several thousands of kilometers in the ocean, collecting data as they go.

Jun 3, 2015 - On May 28, MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Kakani Katija presented a talk at the TEDWomen conference in Monterey about her research studying how marine organisms interact with the fluid world. As a bioengineer, she is interested in the underwater “footprints”, or wakes that organisms leave behind as they move through the water.

Jun 2, 2015 – In spring 2015, MBARI researchers discovered a large, previously unknown field of hydrothermal vents in the Gulf of California, about 150 kilometers (100 miles) east of La Paz, Mexico.

Jun 1, 2015 - In May 2015, as part of a large-scale experiment, ocean researchers measured some of the highest concentrations of harmful algae and their toxin ever observed in Monterey Bay.

May 26, 2015 - If you’ve visited beaches in the Monterey Bay area earlier this year, you may have seen young California sea lions stranded on the beaches, weak and emaciated from lack of food. Recently, the Marine Mammal Center has reported that juvenile and sub-adult sea lions have also been stranding on beaches as a result of domoic acid poisoning.

May 19, 2015 - Scientist Steve Haddock, Electrical Engineer Chad Kecy, and Mechanical Engineer François Cazenave introduced the SeeStar camera system at the Bay Area Maker Faire, a large festival held May 16th and 17th to celebrate invention and creativity by showcasing creations that relate to science, engineering, or art.

May 11, 2015 - How can you track changes in complex marine ecosystems over time? MBARI scientists are part of a team trying to do just this with a five-year, $7 million grant through the National Ocean Partnership Program.

Apr 29, 2015 - The Gulf of California expedition is nearing its end, with one more leg led by Chief Scientist Charlie Paull starting on May 7. The R/V Western Flyer and its crew have been in the Gulf of California since early February and have completed six research cruises, each for a different MBARI science team and their collaborators with different research goals.

Apr 29, 2015 - A team including two MBARI researchers has been selected for the final stage of a million-dollar ocean technology competition. The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE has offered two prizes of $1 million each to science and engineering teams from around the world to create a pH sensor that accurately and affordably measures ocean acidification.

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.

Apr 7, 2015 - What’s it like to explore the depths of Monterey Canyon using an underwater robot? Visitors to the Monterey Bay Aquarium can find out in a new exhibit and auditorium program that highlight MBARI’s deep-sea research.

Mar 23, 2015 - On March 17, MBARI's research vessel Western Flyer returned to the dock in La Paz after a two-week midwater-biology cruise. While the ship was at the dock, researcher Steve Haddock and ROV Pilot Randy Prickett dove underneath the boat to clear a line that had become wrapped around part of the boat. The ROV pilots spotted the offending line during an ROV launch when visibility was particularly good.

Mar 17, 2015 - Exploring the deep sea, and especially submarine canyons, is a risky business. The floors of many submarine canyons are scoured by fast-moving underwater avalanches known as "turbidity currents."

Feb 27, 2015 - MBARI has a new art piece in front of its main entrance—an old propeller from one of its research vessels, the Rachel Carson. The bronze propeller is five feet across and weighs 1,000 pounds; a crane was required to install it in place. The R/V Rachel Carson originally operated as an oil field supply vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

Feb 18, 2015 - Last fall, MBARI hosted the first two phases of the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE competition. The competition challenged teams to design robust pH sensors that could accurately and affordably measure ocean acidification.

Feb 4, 2015 - In early January 2015, a team of MBARI engineers, led by Andy Hamilton, set out to sea to recover an experimental buoy that creates electrical energy from ocean waves. This power buoy had been deployed six miles southwest of Moss Landing Harbor for 131 days, while engineers tested the system’s ability to handle storms.

Jan 14, 2015 - Ocean acidification poses a threat to the life and diversity of marine ecosystems. MBARI scientists and engineers have designed a sophisticated tool for studying the effects of ocean acidification that can be applied to various marine environments, from shallow-water kelp forests to the deep sea.