The NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is a community-inspired and community-serving large scale research facility enabling ocean observing, data collection, and experimentation in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This is the NSF solicitation page for governance and administration of the facility, confirming that OOI is an NSF-funded research infrastructure rather than a private project.

In a May 2026 communication to OOI operators, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) stated that it "has initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative Major Facility." The statement explains that NSF will support a "phased recovery and removal of in-water infrastructure" at several OOI arrays and that the Regional Cabled Array and data services will continue operations under a revised scope. The announcement notes that these changes follow fiscal year 2026 budget decisions and are part of NSF’s portfolio-wide infrastructure lifecycle management.

The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is a science-driven ocean observing network that delivers real-time data from more than 900 instruments. The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), funded by the National Science Foundation, advances understanding of the ocean’s complexity by operating and maintaining cutting-edge instrumentation in some of the most challenging marine environments.

The NSF’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request reduces funding for OOI by 80% in its tenth year. The OOI consists of five ocean-based observatories located off the coast of North Carolina, in the Gulf of Alaska, off the coast of Greenland, the Cascadia Margin and Juan de Fuca Ridge off Oregon, and coastal Washington. Together, they deliver continuous, real-time meteorological, biological, oceanographic, and geophysical data from more than 900 instruments.

In a 2016 news release, NSF announced that the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) was "now fully operational" and described it as "a $386 million ocean research observatory network with arrays in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans." The release states that the OOI was funded by NSF as a Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction project and was expected to operate for 25 years, providing real-time data from more than 800 instruments deployed on moorings, gliders, and cabled systems.

The NSF has already started dismantling the network off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Equipment in the waters near New England, North ...

The National Science Foundation is removing 900 ocean data collecting buoys that cost more than $370 million to install. The Coastal Endurance Array off the Pacific Northwest is the first to go, and removal operations at that site are already in process, according to the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI).

The National Science Foundation announced plans to scale back a major ocean-monitoring network that scientists have relied on for more than a decade to track greenhouse gases, ocean temperatures, marine heat waves, and coastal flooding. The move will gradually dismantle large portions of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368 million system of deep-ocean sensors and research infrastructure deployed across several regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

On its "OOI In The News" page, the Ocean Observatories Initiative highlights a June 1, 2026 New York Times story under the heading "Trump Administration to Dismantle Ocean Monitoring System."[4] The brief description states: "The $368 million network of instruments collecting data in both the Atlantic and Pacific has been critical to climate and ocean research," and directs readers to the New York Times coverage for further details.[4] By characterizing the system as a $368 million network operating in both the Atlantic and Pacific, the OOI site aligns with external reporting on the scope and cost of the observatory.[4]

The U.S. National Science Foundation has initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative Major Facility. NSF plans to remove most of the in-water infrastructure associated with the Ocean Observatories Initiative over the next 15 months, ending operations at the Endurance, Pioneer, Irminger Sea, and Station Papa arrays.

Scientists, teachers, students, and laypersons are encouraged to seek funding to test scientific hypotheses or address scientific questions based on OOI data. The page also directs applicants to the NSF program director for OOI-related proposals, reinforcing NSF oversight of the facility and its use by external researchers.

The Trump administration is dismantling a $368 million deep-ocean observation system that was put in place a decade ago to monitor coastal environments, marine ecosystems and powerful currents that affect the global climate. The US National Science Foundation said it would send ships in June to begin removing more than 900 deep-sea instruments anchored off Oregon, Washington State, Alaska, North Carolina, and an area between Greenland and Iceland known as the Irminger Sea.

The Ocean Observatories Initiative was a major National Science Foundation-funded ocean-observing program built around instrumented arrays in the Atlantic and Pacific. Public descriptions commonly put the project cost at about $368 million to $370 million, and reporting in 2025 described NSF plans to remove much of the equipment rather than continue operating the full network.

SDG News, citing the New York Times, reports that "the U.S. government is moving to dismantle major portions of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a network of deep-ocean instruments funded by the National Science Foundation that has collected data from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for nearly a decade."[5] The piece emphasizes that the OOI, which cost about $368 million to construct, has been critical for research on climate change, fisheries, and coastal hazards, and notes that the planned removal of instruments from several arrays would end continuous monitoring at those locations.[5] It also mentions concern among scientists that the decision stems from broader efforts by the Trump administration to cut climate and environmental research programs.[5]