Over 40 ocean technologists attended a workshop at MBARI to review the state of performance of engineering infrastructure of ocean observatories and science sensors. Over the past decade, many ocean observatories have been installed internationally. MBARI installed the Monterey Accelerated Research System, a cabled observatory on the seafloor, in 2008 to provide oceanographic instruments with a full-time power and data connection to shore.

Workshop presentations covered the substantial successes of various observatories and provided an opportunity for technologists to share lessons learned through specific examples of system failures and process shortfalls. Discussions focused on the cultural changes involved in a transition from short-term deployments of a limited number of instruments to long-term, persistent presence of large numbers of instruments within a very structured program. The workshop was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and chaired by staff from the University of Hawaii. The workshop report will be available at www.soest.hawaii.edu/Workshop_OceanTech_Lessons_Learned/.