U.S. pulling ocean sensors a ‘shock’ for Canadian research as El Niño nears

For the scientists who built and operated the system — and the researchers, educators and students who rely on its data — the timing feels particularly punishing. A decision by the United States to yank scientific instruments from around its shores is a “shock” and will leave a gap in research, said the head of the University of Victoria’s Ocean Networks Canada, a sub-sea sensor network that provides real-time data of ocean conditions

Kate Moran said Ocean Network’s systems and those of the U.S. are closely aligned in the collection of ocean temperatures, currents, sea levels and seismic data, and the information is critical for fisheries management, emergency planning and for researchers studying the effects of climate change.

She said the clawback of funding for scientific endeavours in the U.S. has been ongoing since Donald Trump became president 18 months ago.

“It’s not a complete surprise because we’ve been hearing about it, but when it actually happens, it’s a shock,” said Moran.

Starting this week, the Ocean Observatories Initiative will lose a network of more than 900 ocean sensors from waters off Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina and Greenland.

By 2027, the National Science Foundation will have dismantled most of the system, which had been slated to run another 15 to 20 years.

For the scientists who built and operated the system — and the researchers, educators and students who rely on its data — the timing feels particularly punishing, with an El Niño event expected to arrive along the Pacific coast this summer, bringing disrupted weather patterns and supercharging marine heat waves.

Without the Oregon and Washington network operated by the Ocean Observatories Initiative, researchers say they will lose much of their ability to measure what’s happening below the surface, where the most significant oceanographic signals originate.

“It’s a crippling loss of information,” Ed Dever, a professor at Oregon State University who helped lead the initiative’s Pacific Northwest operation, told the Associated Press.

He said scientists 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 in low-oxygen zones.

Dever said the initiative, launched in 2015, was designed for a 25- to 30-year timeline, built on a scientific consensus that detecting meaningful climate signals requires at least three decades of continuous data.

Ten years in, it’s only given some hints, Dever said.

At Ocean Networks, which has been operating for 20 years, Moran agrees that an extended period of time is essential for spotting trends and anomalies.

“When we reached about the 10-year mark, that’s when we started seeing these long-time [data sets] as being incredibly helpful … to be able to actually extract natural variability from climate impact variability,” she said. “It also has helped us understand the intensity of the tectonics and the geophysical situation.

“These long-time series have been critical to understanding the changing ocean conditions.”

One significant piece will remain: a seafloor cable network managed by the University of Washington off the Pacific coast, which will continue providing data on volcanic and seismic activity in the region.

Scientists had seen warning signs as the Trump administration’s proposed 2026 budget included a 55% cut to the science foundation. Official word to begin shutting down arrived in early May.

Moran said Ocean Networks Canada and the University of Washington had a long and mutually beneficial partnership over the years, and sharing crucial data will be missed.

“It’s been pretty remarkable because this idea of real-time observations started in the late 1990s with collaboration between us,” said Moran.

Initially, it was called the Neptune Project and focused on wiring the tectonic environment. “It was the beginnings of the ideas that evolved to not only monitor the geophysics, but everything possible in the ocean,” said Moran. “It was a true scientific collaboration of doing something completely new, where you have 24-7 data coming in, which never happened before.”

Moran said before the Neptune observatories, scientists would get data primarily from using instruments on ships, where they would get measurements at one location at a specific time, and then the ship would have to leave. But the observatories allow for 24-7 collection of information.

“The ocean always changes, so having this continuous real-time data was a game changer,” said Moran.

She said with the removal of the buoys, moorings and gliders off the Washington coast, the international scientific community will be left with “less of a dataset to understand the full picture of the oceanographic conditions on our coast.”

Moran said the loss will affect students and researchers, and Ocean Networks Canada will reach out to them to help fill the gaps.

“There’s going to be honour students who have been relying on these systems for their theses and the papers that they publish, so we’re going to help so that they can continue and graduate.”

The data collected by Ocean Networks is used by more than 70,000 researchers, communities and decision makers, including First Nations.

Moran said the U.S. will retain the cabled observatory off Oregon and Washington for earthquake early warning and tsunami data.

Moran said the network is also considering placing some buoys from its Atlantic Ocean system into the area where the U.S. is removing moorings between Iceland and Greenland to monitor the Atlantic Meridiano Overturning Current.

The current drives warm water northward along the surface and sends cold, deep water back southward. The process delivers vital heat and nutrients to colder latitudes and transfers carbon to the ocean depths.

Scientists say the heat transport regulates the climate in Europe.

Ocean Networks Canada operates ocean observatories that collect data on physical, chemical, biological and geological aspects of the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

Sixty per cent of its annual operating funds are provided by The Canada Foundation for Innovation, with that money matched by other research foundations and organizations.

In 2023, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced $46.5 million in funding over five years to enhance ocean monitoring systems.

The University of Victoria also plays a role by providing services and a headquarters building.

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— with files from the Associated Press