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 …

Ocean acidification makes some snails more susceptible to being eaten by invasive (and predatory) green crabs.

The National Center for Science Education recognized MBARI's Heidi Cullen for her contributions to the teaching of climate science.

During MBARI's Spring 2019 CANON experiment, researchers will study the vertical migration of ocean animals using sound, video, DNA, and conventional sampling equipment such as nets.

A new study examines how sediments from human activities like bottom trawling for fish, are affecting glass sponges in British Columbia, Canada.

MBARI researchers recently created a new map of Loihi, an undersea volcano that will be the next Hawaiian Island.

Postdoctoral Fellow Amanda Kahn Studying the connection deep-sea sponges create between microbes in the water column and seafloor communities. Deep-sea animals have so many different adaptations to find food because food is scarce in deep water.  Deep-sea sponges are common at Sur Ridge and grow to over a meter (3.3 feet) tall!  Sponges are filter …

Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in air flowing out to sea from Silicon Valley could increase the amount of carbon dioxide dissolving in Monterey Bay by about 20 percent.

Octopus Garden When MBARI and MBNMS researchers were onboard the E/V Nautilus last year they had the opportunity to check out a spot near Davidson Seamount.  They found something so surprising and intriguing that we revisited the same site on this expedition. On the seafloor, in cracks and crevices on the edge of this underwater …

Deep-sea coral observatory Along with the sanctuary and other collaborators, studies of deep-sea coral and sponge communities at Sur Ridge are becoming a focal area for collaborative deep-sea research around Monterey Bay.  As one element of this partnership, MBARI is initiating a “Deep-Sea Coral Observatory” to help understand various processes that influence the biodiversity, productivity, …

Deep-sea coral discovery Unlike shallow water coral reefs that are accessible in most tropical reef areas, deep-sea corals are typically remote and inaccessible due to their great depth, often hundreds to thousands of meters beneath the surface, as well as far from shore. So, even though deep-sea coral ecosystems occur in deep rocky habitats across …

New research using an MBARI-inspired “camera tag” shows that some sharks in South Africa spend a lot of time in kelp beds.