Why OOI Matters on World Oceans Day

Dear OOI Community,

Today, on World Oceans Day, we join scientists, educators, policymakers, and citizens around the globe to recognize the ocean’s critical role in sustaining life on Earth. From regulating climate to supporting biodiversity, the ocean is at the heart of our planet’s health and understanding it has never been more urgent.

That’s where the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) comes into play.

For over a decade, OOI has enabled transformative ocean science by delivering open, continuous, research-quality data from some of the most dynamic and remote marine environments. Our coastal, global, and cabled arrays provide essential data that fuels research on everything from climate variability to marine heatwaves, earthquakes, ocean acidification, and more. OOI data supports students in classrooms, early-career researchers, seasoned scientists, and international partners.

But this World Oceans Day arrives with a tremendous amount of uncertainty.

As you may know, the President’s FY2026 budget request for the National Science Foundation (NSF) proposes severe cuts to OOI funding, up to 80%, along with language signaling possible decommissioning. These cuts would effectively end our ability to deploy sensors, maintain arrays, and collect new data. It would mark a significant loss for the ocean science community, especially at a time when sustained ocean observations are more important than ever.

Despite these challenges, our mission remains clear: support ocean discovery, empower data-driven research, and serve the broader public good. We continue to carry out fieldwork and deliver data that advances science every day.

On this World Oceans Day, we invite you to explore OOI data, share your stories of how you use it, and help us raise awareness by using #OOIDataMatters on social media. Let’s reaffirm why long-term ocean observation is a public investment that’s worth protecting.

Thank you for being part of this community. We will share updates as new information becomes available.

With appreciation,

Jim Edson