Ocean monitoring network to lose most sensors by 2027 after funding cut

A research buoy off the Oregon coast will be retrieved on 16 June, beginning the removal of most instruments in the Ocean Observatories Initiative. The National Science Foundation announced last month that it will dismantle sensors across Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland by 2027.

The network, built for $386 million, has operated more than 900 sensors since 2015 and produced data for over 500 scientific papers.

Funding decision and rationale The foundation described the change as a "descoping" to support evolving priorities and manage infrastructure costs. It cited an upcoming 2025 National Academies report on ocean science as one factor in the decision. The project originally planned for 25 to 30 years of continuous measurements to detect climate signals.

Annual operating costs reached about $48 million, excluding vessel expenses.

An El Niño event forecast for this summer is expected to affect Pacific weather and intensify marine heatwaves. One heatwave has already produced unusually warm surface waters off California. Without the Oregon and Washington moorings and underwater gliders, researchers will lose subsurface measurements of oxygen levels and other variables that satellites cannot capture.

“It's a crippling loss of information.”

staffing A seafloor cable network off the Pacific Northwest coast operated by the University of Washington will continue collecting volcanic and seismic data. The rest of the system will be removed. Staffing on the project had already fallen from 60-70 people before the 2025 budget reductions.

The initiative was coordinated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with partners including Oregon State University and the University of Washington.