MBARI

Remembering a visionary marine biologist 🌊 William “Bill” Hamner, whose innovative and transformative way of thinking played an important role in MBARI’s development, passed away on June 6 at the age of 84. As a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, Hamner served as an inspiration and mentor to many future MBARI researchers. Recruited in early 1988 as MBARI was being created and staff and resources were being assembled, Hamner helped articulate the fledgling institute’s mission. Hamner was instrumental in the institute’s application of robotic technology for ocean exploration, particularly in the midwater. MBARI’s efforts to explore the depths of Monterey Bay with ROVs were enhanced by Hamner’s designs for specialized kreisel tanks that enabled extended observations of delicate deep-sea animals in the lab. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gj-4GfNq

You can read Synchro's take in the Economist Impact on the crucial role of ocean observing science and its promising marine technology that will be vital to monitor the offshore wind industry. (authored by Henry Ruhl and Mary K. Miller)

🔬📚Attention educators! 🔬📚 Are you interested in inspiring a new wave of ocean explorers? Join us for an upcoming Skype a Scientist livestream all about using the #FathomVerse in the classroom. FathomVerse is a community science game that invites ocean enthusiasts to interact with real underwater images and improve the artificial intelligence that helps researchers study ocean life. See you there! 🗓 August 13 🕒 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM ET 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gSAE6QmT Kakani Katija Sarah McAnulty MBARI Ocean Discovery League #Education #TeachingTools #FathomVerse #SkypeAScientist #EdTech #ProfessionalDevelopment #STEM #OceanEducation

Celebrating a lasting legacy for ocean exploration! 🎉 From discovering new species of deep-sea jellyfish to revealing the intricate connections between fish migration and the carbon cycle, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s (MBARI) contributions have been invaluable in advancing marine science and engineering to understand our changing ocean. Since it was founded in 1987 by David Packard, MBARI has remained an institution that is core to The David and Lucile Packard Foundation's legacy. It was born from David’s belief that addressing the unique challenges of ocean exploration required a new type of research institute—one that was independent in spirit and collaborative by design. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/giFnm8Wz

Autonomous robots are essential to the future of marine science, engineering, and exploration. 🤖🌊⁠ ⁠ Understanding the ocean’s complex physical and biological processes requires robust observing systems, like MBARI’s long-range AUV (LRAUV). The LRAUV was designed to fill the need for a mobile underwater robot to observe upper ocean processes. It has been tested over 36,000 hours offshore across a fleet of eight vehicles and has a unique ultra-low energy transit mode, allowing the vehicle to be operated without a support ship. ⁠ ⁠ MBARI engineers have outfitted the LRAUV with various tools, allowing scientists to track and control the platform remotely and collect real-time ocean data through microbial sampling, bioluminescence, active bio-acoustic imaging, water sampling, plankton imaging, and multibeam mapping. ⁠ ⁠ The ocean is critical to life on Earth, but faces a fragile future and a rising tide of threats. Monitoring ocean health is increasingly urgent, but logistically challenging. Scientists need nimble research tools to scale our observations of the ocean and its inhabitants. We envision a future where robotic platforms, like the MBARI LRAUV, can monitor ocean health 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.⁠ ⁠ Learn more about the LRAUV: https://lnkd.in/guGSHkCZ

New job opportunity!

Unwind with the breathtaking beauty of deep-sea hydrothermal vents 🔥✨ Some of the most stunning landscapes on Earth lie deep beneath the ocean’s surface. Volcanic activity on the seafloor creates scattered oases known as hydrothermal vents. These underwater geysers spew superheated water rich in dissolved minerals. When that scalding-hot water comes in contact with frigid deep-ocean water, the minerals crystallize, raining tiny flecks of “ash” to the seafloor. Those mineral deposits build up over time, creating breathtaking spires and “chimneys” that can grow to hundreds of feet tall. The astonishing communities that live on and around hydrothermal vents have evolved to flourish under extreme temperatures and chemical conditions. The remarkable tubeworms, crabs, clams, and more that thrive here are found nowhere else on Earth. Watch the full video here on our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/g3x6qk-v

Publication alert! Out now in Nature Physics: https://lnkd.in/dXFNguUk (PDF: https://rdcu.be/dPjs5). Any idea what the movie is showing and what it is doing? Welcome to the hidden world of ciliary flames, an internal fluid pump, here shown in the deep sea creature Giant Larvacean. We found that this design and its counterpart, the ciliary carpet, are dictated by fluid physics and represent a trade-off between pressure generation and flow rate. Whether flatworm or frog, same physics apply when you try to pump internal fluid with cilia, leading to highly convergent design strategies across the animal kingdom. Find out more in our paper. This was a wonderful collaboration between my lab at Helmholtz Pioneer Campus @ Helmholtz Munich, headed by my postdoc Feng L., MBARI headed by Kakani Katija, and University of Southern California, headed by Eva Kanso, and others.

Have you played FathomVerse yet? Now available for download on the App Store and Google Play. In #FathomVerse, players interact with real underwater images to improve the artificial intelligence that helps researchers study ocean life. The free mobile game combines immersive imagery, compelling gameplay, and cutting-edge science to inspire a new wave of ocean explorers. Play now to explore the depths of ocean discovery! Download on the App Store: https://apple.co/49VSQE5 Get it on Google Play: https://bit.ly/3Upz3a8 https://bit.ly/49ZILG7

🎮🦑 NSF Convergence Accelerator’s Track E: Networked Blue Economy-funded project Ocean Vision AI, led by MBARI, created a fun and relaxing virtual game called FathomVerse, where players explore the ocean and identify marine life using real pictures gathered by ocean researchers. By playing the game, users are helping train an artificial intelligence model to visually process ocean data, which in turn can be deployed by scientists to make the process of analyzing thousands of ocean images more efficient. FathomVerse seeks to transform ocean exploration by engaging a community of ocean enthusiasts to work alongside researchers. Learn about FathomVerse: https://bit.ly/3zm9i3T Download the game and explore the ocean: https://bit.ly/45F97N3 Ocean Vision AI is one of six teams selected to advance to Phase 2 of the NSF Convergence Accelerator’s Track E: Networked Blue Economy receiving up to $5 million in funding. Discover how Track E teams are building upon NSF’s mission of accelerating convergence research across ocean sectors: https://bit.ly/45Fm8WZ For more information on how the Convergence Accelerator teams are accelerating solutions toward societal and economic impact as part of the NSF Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Directorate, visit the official website: https://bit.ly/3L1JbBS.