MBARI
@mbarinews.bsky.social
An oceanographic research institute focused on advancing marine science and engineering to understand our changing ocean
The bumpy jelly stings with their whole body, no tentacles necessary 🪼✨ This jelly launched decades of discovery at MBARI. Researchers first encountered the bumpy jelly (Stellamedusa ventana) in 1990 while exploring Monterey Bay with the ROV Ventana. Dive in: youtu.be/ifiWUHQEK0g?...
The bumpy jelly stings with their whole body, no tentacles necessary
YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
youtu.be
Last month, MBARI hosted @calacademy.bsky.social research interns to learn about ocean science and engineering careers, then MBARI summer interns visited the Academy’s research facilities to explore opportunities in museum-based research. 🔬🎓🌊 Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-a...
MBARI and the California Academy of Sciences inspire the next generation of scientists • MBARI
Internship programs at MBARI and the California Academy of Sciences provide undergraduate students with hands-on research experience. Last month, MBARI hosted the Academy’s research interns to learn a...
mbari.org
Who knew predators could be this pretty? 🩷✨ The abyssal comb jelly (Beroe abyssicola) patrols the midnight zone searching for its favorite food—other comb jellies. When Beroe finds their next meal, rows of tiny cilia lining their mouths act like teeth, helping them grip onto their prey.
Mapping one of the ocean's most extraordinary neighborhoods 🌊 MBARI researchers recently completed a 10-day expedition to conduct high-resolution mapping surveys in Monterey Canyon and a deep-sea octopus nursery near Davidson Seamount. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-r...
MBARI researchers use innovative technology to map California's famous Octopus Garden • MBARI
This month, researchers from MBARI’s Seafloor Mapping Lab completed a 10-day expedition on the research vessel David Packard to conduct high-resolution mapping surveys with the remotely operated vehic...
mbari.org
Just out for a little glide 〰️ Skates are close relatives of sharks and rays that use their broad, wing-like pectoral fins to glide effortlessly across the seafloor. They are found in a variety of ocean habitats around the world.
MBARI and @montereybayaquarium.org have a rich history of collaboration. This month, we welcomed the Aquarium’s new CEO Jenny Gray to learn more about MBARI’s work and identify opportunities for further collaboration between our two institutions. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-w...
MBARI welcomes Monterey Bay Aquarium CEO Jenny Gray • MBARI
MBARI and the Monterey Bay Aquarium have a rich history of collaboration. This month, MBARI welcomed new Monterey Bay Aquarium CEO Jenny Gray to learn more about MBARI’s work and identify opportunitie...
mbari.org
Floating through inner space ✨️ This species of jellyfish, Poralia rufescens, is one that most people will never see. It lives thousands of meters beneath the ocean's surface, often drifting just above the seafloor. Sometimes, our researchers encounter hundreds of them during a single ROV dive!
⛴ The RESCUE team, funded by @water4all-eu.bsky.social & co-funded by the #europeanunion, has successfully completed its four-day expedition aboard the Laura Bassi vessel, which belongs to Project partner @ogsit.bsky.social in Italy 🇮🇹 Discover more 👉 u.garr.it/cv9N4 @mbarinews.bsky.social
In San Francisco tomorrow night and looking for something nerdy 🧪 to do?? Come to @exploratorium.bsky.social After Dark SplashDown, where I’ll share new technologies 🤖🦾 to accelerate discovery of ocean 🌊 life 🦑. www.exploratorium.edu/visit/calend... @mbarinews.bsky.social @fathomverse.bsky.social
After Dark: Splashdown | Exploratorium Museum Event
Celebrate unusual organisms in the Bay, and learn about how they might help us imagine extraterrestrial life.
exploratorium.edu
Taking the pulse of a changing ocean 🌎 MBARI's Monique Messié recently contributed to a commentary in the scientific journal Oceanography, reflecting on the Argo Program’s remarkable accomplishments for monitoring the global ocean. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/new-sci...
New scientific commentary highlights the importance of the Argo Program • MBARI
High-quality, publicly available data from the international Argo Program are essential for understanding our changing ocean. Senior Research Specialist Monique Messié recently contributed to a commen...
mbari.org
The deep sea is full of friend-shaped surprises. ❤️🤗 Last month, our researchers spent 10 days exploring the midnight zone, documenting everything from glowing jellyfish to colorful crustaceans like this little ocean buddy. This tiny treasure is a mysid shrimp in the genus Gnathophausia.
Last week, MBARI researchers participated in the third International Conference on Seafloor Landforms, Processes and Evolution, sharing recent work in seafloor geosciences with our peers. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-r...
MBARI researchers participate in third International Conference on Seafloor Landforms, Processes and Evolution • MBARI
Last week, MBARI researchers participated in the third International Conference on Seafloor Landforms, Processes and Evolution, sharing recent work in seafloor geosciences with our international peers...
mbari.org
Seafloor snacking at its spiniest 🦀 This decadent decapod, Paralithodes sp., is also known as a king crab. Spiny king crabs crawl across the seafloor in search of their next meal, which could be other crabs, sea stars, dead animals, or organic material that sank from the surface waters above.
A technicolor feast in the deep 💜🍴🩷 The dinner plate jelly (Solmissus spp.) may look delicate, but it's one of the deep sea's most skilled predators. This denizen of the deep has an appetite for other gelatinous animals. Jellies, comb jellies, siphonophores, salps—they are all on the menu.
Listening with light💡🌊🤖 MBARI Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef shares how Geo-Sense leverages distributed acoustic sensing technology to transform monitoring of seafloor processes. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/listeni...
Listening with light: MBARI researchers develop innovative new technology for studying the seafloor • MBARI
MBARI Senior Scientist Aaron Micallef shares how Geo-Sense leverages distributed acoustic sensing technology to transform monitoring of seafloor processes.
mbari.org
Scientists from MBARI’s Biodiversity and Biooptics Team completed an expedition to study the biogeography of gelatinous animals. They conducted blue-water scuba dives and surveys to understand population boundaries between Central and Southern California. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-r...
MBARI researchers complete expedition to study deep-sea jellies in Southern California • MBARI
Last month, scientists from MBARI’s Biodiversity and Biooptics Team completed an expedition on the research vessel David Packard to study the biogeography of gelatinous animals. The team conducted blu...
mbari.org
A little lantern for the deep ❤️🏮 Pandea rubra, also known as red paper lantern jellies, are found in oceans around the world, from the surface to depths of 3,300 meters (10,000 feet), where they feed on tiny krill and copepods. Their bells measure just eight centimeters (about 3 inches) across.
The National Marine Educators Association has named MBARI Senior Education and Research Specialist George Matsumoto the recipient of the 2026 James Centorino Award for distinguished performance in marine education. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-s...
MBARI Senior Education and Research Specialist George Matsumoto honored by National Marine Educators Association • MBARI
The National Marine Educators Association has named MBARI Senior Education and Research Specialist George Matsumoto the recipient of the 2026 James Centorino Award for distinguished performance in mar...
mbari.org
New research by MBARI researchers and collaborators leverages 30 years of video observations to link association behavior to the evolution of eye structure and transparency in deep-sea hyperiid amphipods. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/new-res...
New research reveals factors driving the evolution of remarkable eyes in deep-sea amphipods • MBARI
New research published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B by MBARI researchers and collaborators leverages 30 years of video observations to link association behavior to the ...
mbari.org
An internationally recognized leader in studying marine biodiversity in a changing ocean, MBARI Senior Scientist Francisco Chavez participated in a series of international conferences and workshops in Europe. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/senior-...
Senior Scientist Francisco Chavez shares MBARI science at international conferences • MBARI
An internationally recognized leader in studying marine biodiversity in a changing ocean, Senior Scientist Francisco Chavez participated in a series of international conferences and workshops in Europ...
mbari.org
Guess who? 🥰 Say hello to the adorable arbiter snailfish (Careproctus kamikawai). Snailfishes are a diverse and thriving group of fishes with over 400 described species. Their pelvic fins are modified into suction cups that allow them to cling to rocks and corals and withstand strong currents.
An expert hunter with a dazzling smile 🦷💙 Pacific viperfish (Chauliodus macouni) may look intimidating, but those dramatic teeth are perfectly suited for life in the deep. They are among the countless marine animals that migrate each night from the ocean’s depths towards shallower surface waters.
Just a pink poof looking for snacks 💕 Pleurobranchaea californica, also known as California sea owls, spend their days cruising the seafloor in search of a meal. Their diet consists of anemones, squids, worms, and other sea slugs. They’re not picky eaters!
MBARI researchers recently led an expedition with @schmidtocean.bsky.social that revealed remarkable new hydrothermal vents in a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean, providing important clues about fluid circulation and seafloor geology. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/expedit...
Expedition led by MBARI researchers reveals remarkable, and rare, form of deep-sea hydrothermal vents • MBARI
A monthlong expedition with Schmidt Ocean Institute has provided new insight into fluid circulation and seafloor geology in the remote Doldrums Megatransform and Fracture Zone in the Atlantic Ocean.
mbari.org
Last week, MBARI and @montereybayaquarium.org hosted the Oceano Azul Foundation and ARDITI for a two-day workshop to develop strategies to advance ocean exploration and science in support of conservation and policy. Learn more: www.mbari.org/news/mbari-h...
MBARI hosts Oceano Azul Foundation to develop new ocean science and conservation collaborations • MBARI
This week, MBARI and the Monterey Bay Aquarium hosted members of the board of directors from the Oceano Azul Foundation and ARDITI for a two-day workshop to develop strategies for advancing ocean expl...
mbari.org
Drift into the deep with these living fossils. 🌊 MBARI's remotely operated vehicles have captured sea lilies swaying in the currents and feather stars paddling across the seafloor. Every observation helps reveal the incredible diversity of life in the deep sea. Dive in: youtu.be/GoQ-yGKrRgo?...
Five minutes of fascinating feather stars and swaying sea lilies to relax and unwind
YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
youtu.be
The deep sea's most graceful commuter 💫 This Grimpoteuthis octopus moves through the water using large fins and webbed arms. Those ear-like fins have earned this group the nickname "dumbo octopuses." They use finger-like cirri lining their arms to help detect and capture small prey.
A precious poof in a sea of snow ❄️🧡🌊 Dandelion siphonophores (Dromalia alexandri) are typically found just above the seafloor, where the water is rich in food. They use long, sticky tentacles to anchor themselves in place while other tiny tentacles grab any food drifting in the currents.
Proof that there's more than one way to squid 🦑 The octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron) is unique among squids. Most squids have eight arms and two long tentacles, making a total of 10 appendages. But as these squid mature, their two feeding tentacles are reabsorbed into their bodies.
There's no party like a market squid party! 🦑🙌 Market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) are common along the central coast of California, especially in the spring and fall when they migrate into the shallow waters of Monterey Bay to spawn. They grow quickly and can reach up to 28 centimeters long.