The food pyramid on a ship: Michelle Obama, if you’re reading this, stop right now. One of the most bittersweet things about being at sea—did someone say sweet? I’m hungry. Sorry, had to go to the galley. Anyway, all the food. All the delicious food is the bittersweet thing about being at sea. And without …

And we’re off! The C3PO expedition is off to a great start! We started off the cruise by testing out our emergency gear, a.k.a. Gumby suits. The struggle to get these suits on was real, but in the end we persevered and all got into them safely! It has been non-stop action since we left …

A new paper shows how strong currents carry sand-sized particles 50 kilometers down Monterey Canyon.

In a program that could revolutionize environmental monitoring and fisheries management, MBARI's Environmental Sample Processor is collecting environmental DNA from a coastal creek just north of Monterey Bay.

When the Haddock lab is at sea, we use different technologies to explore and collect the many interesting species we hope to study. The main tool is MBARI’s underwater robot, the remotely operated vehicle ROV Doc Ricketts. The Doc Ricketts has cameras, lights, two manipulator arms and sampling chambers that the ROV pilots and scientists …

Everyone says you can’t really understand an ecosystem until you’ve experienced it for yourself, but it’s surprisingly true. As a data technician in Steve Haddock’s lab, I work with the existing data in the Video Annotation and Reference System (VARS) database. Because of this, I don’t work hands-on with the organisms I study, electing instead …

Many deep-sea species have never been seen or collected before. Nevertheless, we can learn a great deal by studying them with next-generation laboratory equipment and methods like optical oxygen microsensors, high-pressure instruments, genome-scale sequencing, protein purification, and gene cloning and expression. For the DEEPC project, MBARI Scientist Steve Haddock and collaborator Erik Thuesen, of The …

Researchers are developing computer models to learn how comb jellies evolved to live at different depths in the ocean.

Newest autonomous underwater vehicle launched to test software for improving AUV performance.

Gray whales are dying in large numbers along their Pacific Coast migration route. Scientists are looking for clues to explain this phenomenon.

Content Manager Nancy Barr The stunning jellyfish exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium provides visitors a special glimpse into the wondrous diversity of life in the deep sea—the largest habitat on Earth. These animals are part of the intricate marine food web. Successfully exhibiting jellies at the aquarium takes a team of aquarists, including Tommy …

Vanessa Stenvers, MBARI summer intern Rondi Robison, manager, Ocean Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz We have been out for six days on the midwater ecology summer expedition. During this voyage we have been using the ROV Doc Ricketts to observe and sample life in the deep sea. Some dives have had specific missions …

Ben Burford, Ph.D. candidate, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford  If you spend enough time looking out over the ocean, there is a chance you will see marine mammals of one sort or another; perhaps a whale will spout, or a sea lion will cruise by. But unlike these air-breathers, most animals in the ocean that grow …

Every evening all over the world ocean a mass migration takes place during which animals from the deep swim upwards into the surface ocean to feed under the cover of darkness. When they are full, and the sun begins to light up the surface waters, these animals swim back down to their dark daytime homes …

Content Manager Nancy Barr First order of business for the day was to collect animals to fill the chambers of the Midwater Respirometry System. The jelly Colobonema sericeum (the “silky” jelly) was particularly prevalent today, so we collected several of these small, delicate gelatinous animals and placed them in their designated containers. Once full, the …

We’re back on shore after a successful cruise thanks to everyone’s hard work. The LRAUVs have also all come back in from their deployments around MARS and within the acoustic cone of DEIMOS. Each environmental sample processor (ESP) within an LRAUV can hold 60 cartridges which each contain a filter that we used to sample eDNA. These …

A new study shows that microplastic particles are not only common from the surface to the seafloor, but they’re also being incorporated into marine food webs.

The human imprint of plastic pollution is now evident in all marine ecosystems. Scientists have documented plastics everywhere from white sand beaches and colorful coral reefs to the deepest, darkest trenches of the ocean.

Jesse Bausell, Ph.D. candidate, University California, Santa Cruz This particular cruise seeks to expand our understanding of the diurnal zooplankton migration. In order to increase their odds of survival, zooplankton commonly spend their daylight hours hiding in the darkness of the deep ocean, ascending thousands of meters to the ocean surface at night to graze …

We’ve begun sampling around the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) cabled observatory. We have collected water samples from the ship for eDNA analysis, conducted Bongo net tows, and coordinated our efforts among the different sampling platforms that have all been deployed around this site. Already we’ve seen lots of marine mammal activity including a large …