As we begin to emerge from the fog—a signature mark of summer in Monterey Bay—many people are preparing to go back to school. As you ease back in, you can learn more about the ocean with the plethora of videos, images, and stories across our social media platforms. 

Classrooms can engage directly with world-class scientists and learn about oceanography and climate change research by adopting a float. Thanks to hundreds of these robotic floats equipped with oxygen sensors, scientists can take the pulse of the ocean, measuring the ocean’s breath from season to season.

In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing some fun and fascinating summer stories—from a sneak peek at our new research vessel to a spectacular species of spaghetti worm. Dive in and learn more about our journey to explore the ocean's darkest depths.

See you on the water,
The MBARI team

MBARI is beginning the next chapter in our work with the construction of a new research vessel named after our founder, David Packard. For more than three decades, MBARI research has revealed the astounding diversity of life deep beneath the surface, and the institute’s technology innovations have provided priceless insights into the ocean’s geological, ecological, and biogeochemical processes. The new research ship will enable continued exploration of the deep sea, from the midnight zone—the inky depths below 1,000 meters (about 3,300 feet)—to the abyssal seafloor 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) deep. We look forward to welcoming the R/V David Packard into our fleet in late 2023. Dive in.

Our ocean is the big blue heart of Earth’s climate system. It has buffered us from the worst impacts of climate change, soaking up more than 90 percent of the excess heat and about a quarter of the excess carbon dioxide produced by human activities, like burning fossil fuels. All that extra work comes at a cost to ocean health. Climate change is making our ocean warmer, more acidic, and oxygen levels decreasing. That’s why the real-time information collected by hundreds of robotic biogeochemical floats is so important. It’s helping scientists better understand, predict, and mitigate the impacts of climate change, helping us work to improve ocean health. Learn more.

MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have helped shed new light on the mysteries of the deep. We have logged more than 6,100 deep-sea dives, yet every time our vehicles descend into the depths, we manage to learn something new. From time to time, we come across an animal that stumps our scientists. During one of MBARI’s expeditions to Mexico’s Gulf of California, researchers observed what looked like small pom-poms lying on the seafloor. These mystery masses turned out to be a spectacular type of spaghetti worm: Biremis. Learn more.