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A crucial component of one of the world’s most ambitious ocean monitoring networks is set to be decommissioned this month, as scientists prepare to retrieve a research buoy from the depths of the Pacific off the Oregon coast.<\/p>\n
This removal, scheduled for 16 June, marks the beginning of the end for much of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) \u2013 a vast system of over 900 ocean sensors, built at a cost of \\$386 million, which has provided continuous real-time data for more than a decade. Last month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced its intention to dismantle most of the network, with instruments to be pulled from waters spanning Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland by 2027.<\/p>\n
Funded by the NSF, the observatories have been instrumental in tracking everything from ocean circulation and marine ecosystems to climate change and extreme weather patterns. Its freely available data has underpinned over 500 scientific publications, despite the project originally being slated to operate for another 15 to 20 years.<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement, the foundation clarified that the decision is not a cancellation but a “descoping” \u2013 part of a “wider strategy of a nimbler approach to prioritise support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies, as well as smart lifecycle management within its research infrastructure portfolio.” The NSF added that its decision was partly informed by a forthcoming 2025 National Academies report on the future of ocean science.<\/p>\n
However, for the scientists who developed and operated the system, and the researchers, educators, and students who depend on its invaluable data, the timing of this dismantling feels particularly harsh. This comes as an El Ni\u00f1o event, known for disrupting weather patterns and intensifying marine heatwaves, is forecast to hit the Pacific coast this summer, with one such heatwave already causing unusually warm waters off California.<\/p>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Climate_Trump_Ocean_Monitoring_71157.jpg\")
In this 2021 image provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, workers walk near buoys used to gather data at Pioneer New England shelf off the coast of Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Mass. (V\u00e9ronique LaCapra\/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) (Local Library)<\/p>\n
Without the Oregon and Washington<\/a> moorings and the network of underwater gliders the Ocean Observatories Initiative operated in the region, researchers say they’ll lose much of their ability to measure what’s happening below the surface, which is precisely where the most significant oceanographic signals are. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a crippling loss of information,\u201d Ed Dever, a professor at Oregon State University<\/a> who helped lead the initiative\u2019s Pacific Northwest operations, told The Associated Press Tuesday. Scientists<\/a> can get some data from the surface, such as temperature and the distribution of chlorophyll, which drives photosynthesis in plants, but information below cannot be gathered from satellites alone, including low oxygen zones.<\/p>\n The initiative launched in 2015 after more than a decade of community planning and construction. It was designed as a 25 to 30-year project, built in part around the oceanographic consensus that detecting meaningful climate signals requires at least three decades of continuous data. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to the 10 year record,\u201d Dever said, \u201cwhich will give you some hints, but it won\u2019t continue on.\u201d<\/p>\n One significant piece will remain: a seafloor cable network managed by the University of Washington<\/a> off the Pacific Northwest coast, which will continue providing data on volcanic and seismic activity in the region.<\/p>\n Scientists had seen warning signs as the administration\u2019s proposed 2026 budget included a 55% cut to the science foundation. Official word to begin shutting down arrived in early May. <\/p>\n The initiative was coordinated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in collaboration with the University of Washington<\/a> and Oregon State University, as well as past partners including Rutgers University<\/a> and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. <\/p>\n The initiative operated on roughly $48 million a year, not including the cost of research vessels, which adds substantially to the overall price. Prior to budget cuts, which began in 2025, around 60 to 70 people worked directly on the project across its partner institutions, Dever said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s happening with the Ocean Observatories Initiative is not unique,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is just one of a number of science facilities that is being dismantled at the present time. It seems to really mark the end of a federal commitment to basic scientific research \u2014 a commitment that has served this nation very well for the last 70 years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-618900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Climate_Trump_Ocean_Monitoring_73_92.jpg\")
In this 2018 image provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a buoy used to gather data floats in the Pioneer Mid-Atlantic Bight off the coast of North Carolina. (Darlene Trew Crist\/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) (Local Library)<\/p>\n