Phytoplankton — fueling life in the Ocean and the air we breathe! The #OBVI #SUBSEA expedition team is especially interested in nutrient exchange and cycling between the Ocean’s surface and subsurface layers. Read more here: schmidtocean.org/cruise/subse...

We are celebrating Research Vessel Falkor (too)'s Berth-day today! Five years ago, @SchmidtOcean Institute signed and took owner"ship." Since then, the vessel has made numerous discoveries and hosted researchers from all over the world. Happy Birthday R/V Falkor (too)!

We brake for nautilus! “We usually stopped what we were doing whenever we saw nautilus, b/c they are such amazing animals to watch,” said #VisioningCoralSea Chief Scientist Dr. Robin Beaman of James Cook University. This enigmatic cephalopod navigated the depths before dinosaurs roamed the Earth!

Anemone of my anemone is a friend… because we love sea anemones! Play 15 rounds of Bound before April 14th to earn an Anenomadness badge! 📸 NOAA Ocean Exploration 📍 Denson Seamount, Gulf of Alaska fathomverse.game #FathomVerse #Okeanos #NOAA #DeepSea #SeaAnemones

#PoetryInOcean for Elvin abyss tunicate "...Who shall hear the wind roaring like leaves of forests; the white rocks snarling in the moon gleaming, in the moon waning, in the moon falling a corpse-candle; the storm mumbling, the abyss moving?” Read abt new species: scripps.ucsd.edu/news/two-scr...

Happy Taxonomist Appreciation Day!

Meet Iskra’s glitter worm! ✨ The World Register of Marine Species released the annual list of the top-ten marine species for 2025, including this beauty, which was named and described by @scrippsocean.bsky.social grad students Avery Hiley & Kiirah Green, alongside Professor Greg Rouse.

Another expedition underway! During #OBVI #SUBSEA expedition w/Schmidt Ocean Institute & @schmidtsciences.bsky.social Ocean Biogeochemistry Virtual Institute, Dr. Matthew Church and a team of international collaborators are investigating nutrient exchange w/in the South Atlantic subtropical gyre.

Our second container of gear came in and we hit the ground running with deployments of a full 60 PIT sediment trap, trace metal and rosette, and McLane pumps. All of these (and more) will help us characterize export of particles as part of the SUBSEA project 🌊 @schmidtocean.bsky.social

🌊 Marvels in the midwater 🌊 ROV pilots zoomed in on this siphonophore at 755 meters during a recent #OBVI #LivingBioreactors dive offshore of Brazil, offering a breathtaking glimpse of a colonial animal comprised of zooids working in concert to survive and thrive in the deep Ocean.

ooo! Mesonychoteuthis-the COLOSSAL Squid from 11 months ago! #molluscmonday youtu.be/lzPoG9H8Hlo?...

Ayoung Kim creates immersive, research-driven media installations that weave together cinematic storytelling, science fiction, myth, and technology. Ayoung will join @SchmidtOcean as Artist-at-Sea for the #DesigningtheFuture3 Expedition. More information: https://bit.ly/4b7JA3s

Scientists estimate that 10 billion tons of fish & half of the ocean’s zooplankton biomass live in the midwater zone (between 100 & 1000 m). Capturing & transporting carbon to the deep, sustaining fisheries, & supporting endangered wildlife are just some of the ecosystem services happening here.

Wow. Foraminifera! ROV pilots paused and carefully zoomed in to collect footage of these single-celled microorganisms, or protists, at 843 m during the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition w/ @schmidtsciences.bsky.social offshore of Argentina. Read the full caption: youtube.com/shorts/Yv_ud...

The first in situ sighting of the Ram’s Horn Squid (Spirula spirula) was collected during our 2020-2021 time in Australian waters, led by Dr. Robin Beaman of James Cook University. www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12...

Congratulations, Dr. Robin Beaman — the recipient of the 2026 Schmidt Ocean Institute Science Impact Award, read more here: www.linkedin.com/posts/schmid...

Carbon transport, by squid This is a Teuthowenia pellucida, according to Rachel Chen, from the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors team. After glass squids make the daily trip to surface waters to feed, they return to depths, transferring carbon from the surface ocean to the deep sea.

Aulacoctena ​​Gabriela Mistral’s “Weaving the Round” (translated by Ursula K. Le Guin) “Where shall we go to weave the round? Shall we go down to the ocean beach? The sea'll dance in a thousand waves to make us an orange-blossom wreath." #OBVI #LivingBioreactor 1201 m

Follow us to Oceanology International, and be sure to attend Schmidt Ocean Institute Executive Director Dr. Jyotika Virmani's talk, "Into the Blue Frontier: How Innovation Is Transforming Ocean Discovery and Exploration." Learn more: https://invt.io/1lxb60g81nl

All ink, no stink! Squid ink is a natural, dark-viscous fluid primarily composed of melanin pigment, mucus & water — like a deep-sea smoke screen for a hasty getaway. These ink-blob shapes are called pseudomorphs. Filmed during #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition w/@schmidtsciences.bsky.social#OBVI#LivingBioreactors

This is the most boring reel (but it isn’t)! For #OBVI #LivingBioreactors Chief Scientist Anitra Ingalls & team, footage like this changes her view of the Ocean. Each tiny particle of marine snow (decaying organic matter) contains an entire invisible ecosystem.

New paper alert! During the 2021 Australian Mesophotic Coral Examination expedition to the Ashmore Reef Marine Park, researchers collected 10 new species of sea stars, 9 of which are described in the paper by @echinoblog.bsky.social et al., published in Megataxa in early January.

The #OBVI #LivingBioreactors science team spent a little over a month aboard R/V Falkor (too) in the South Atlantic off the coast of Argentina, with support from ‪@SchmidtSciences‬ Ocean Biogeochemistry Virtual Institute. Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMlZ5qe69pU

Some of the Schmidt Ocean Institute team met at the big red fish in the main hall of Ocean Science Meeting in Glasgow for a quick, impromptu photo before running off to attend more meetings, talks, and poster sessions. #osm26

A larval Macrourid sighting at 917 m! ROV pilots filmed future-fish during the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition, supported @schmidtsciences.bsky.social.#OBVI#LivingBioreactorscientists are studying midwater organisms and how they sequester carbon.

Absolutely spectacular images from @schmidtocean.bsky.social's recent expedition in Argentina. The team documented the largest known Bathelia candida coral reef (nearly the size of the Vatican!) and 28 suspected new species. Learn more in their expedition recap: schmidtocean.org/argentinas-d... 🌊🦑🧪🐟

Check out our latest video from the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition with @schmidtsciences.bsky.social — it features Artist-at-Sea Paula Proaño Mesias, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyCt...

We are pleased to announce our updated 10-Year Expedition Map, with a continued focus on the Southwest Atlantic Ocean in 2026. Looking ahead, the deadline for proposals seeking shiptime in 2028 is 31 March 2026, apply here: https://schmidtocean.org/apply/

Follow the rainbow into the deep! This Cestum sp. — also known as the Venus girdle ctenophore — is one of the largest of the comb jellies in our global Ocean. ROV pilots filmed it during the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition with @schmidtsciences.bsky.social

One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qMbo22

Jaw-dropping jellyfish, Poralia sp, 1,414m (ID, Dr. Anela Choy) “There are many mysteries to uncover,” Choy writes. “But perhaps this beautiful brownish, reddish medusae has a unique role to play in connecting carbon flow between the deep water column with the seafloor.” #OBVI #LivingBioreactors

Celebrating ROV SuBastian's 900th scientific dive since completing sea trials in 2016. Seen in this milestone dive during #LivingBioreactors — a single-celled organism called Foraminifera, a “berried” crustacean (translation: shrimp carrying eggs), several dazzling jellyfish, & a string of salps.

The most wonderful expedition you've probably never heard about, but need to cheer on NOW. Follow 25 female indigenous & non-indigenous scientists, explorers, storytellers, artists & ocean advocates from 9 countries as they explore "the bottom of the world." arcg.is/1HTTuv3 🌊 🦑 🧪 ⚒️ 🌎 🌍🌏 🇦🇶 #gischat

We're chairing sessions, delivering talks, and sharing our work at poster sessions — make sure to add these events to your schedule for #OSM26. 22-27 February | Glasgow, U.K.

Our latest #ScienceStory is out, featuring @cadurkin.bsky.social, a member of the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition team with @schmidtsciences.bsky.social youtu.be/dod0Qka9qd4?...

In 2025, 57% of our chief scientists and 53% of our science party members were women, and women work at every level within Schmidt Ocean Institute. Today, on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and every day, we celebrate the women exploring and studying the ocean.

This is a Labichthys snipe eel. Like many of the animals studied during the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition w/ @schmidtsciences.bsky.social, Labichthys shelter in the depths & make a daily migration to feed near surface waters at night. Read full caption: youtube.com/shorts/zWjxE...

Follow us to Oceanology International! Schmidt Ocean Institute Executive Director Dr. Jyotika Virmani joins 160+ speakers for 50+ sessions designed to tackle the sector’s most pressing technical, environmental, and operational challenges. Learn more: https://invt.io/1lxb60g81nl

Working on image processing code in my new office on the Falkor too, while we transit to the next station. #LivingBioreactors @schmidtocean.bsky.social

“Like a firefly in the middle of a field filled with noise, its shining, latent light within, a tiny bell, small and soundless. I fade away so that you may lose yourself. I fold myself into my wings.” Poem by Pedro Serrano, trans. by Don Cellini. Psychedelic jellyfish, #argentiniandeepseeps, 3804 m

Riding High! During the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition, ROV pilots captured footage of a tiny animal, likely a crustacean, riding a jellyfish like a surfboard. Jellyfish = protection w/their stinging tentacles & access to food while traveling & “shooting the curl” (as surfers would say).

Our first #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition video is out! Discover how the science team is studying the gut microbiomes of vertically migrating animals and how these microbiomes affect carbon storage in the deep sea, with support from @schmidtsciences.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmej...

Skeleton shrimp: superior snackers This amphipod in the family Caprellidae, has feather-like setae line several of their 18 appendages for collecting food — amphipod translates to “feet on all sides” in Greek. #argentiniandeepseeps ~1200 meters

A fishy escape fr #ArgentinianDeepSeeps "The question, O me! so sad, recurring — What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here — that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." - Walt Whitman

Sampling among the stars! During the #Taleof2Canyons expedition, curious fish nibbled on sediments as ROV SuBastian pilots collected push core samples from a seafloor lined with brittle stars.

Animals as Living Bioreactors expedition is underway! W/ @schmidtsciences.bsky.social, scientists are eager to learn more about the role of midwater animals, like this gossamer worm, in carbon transport. Read more & subscribe to our YouTube for ROV dive updates here: youtube.com/post/Ugkx_Vw...

Multiple Choice Monday Why is this tiny fish not the octopus’s next tasty snack? a. This tiny fish tastes funny. b. Sleepy cephalopod, will eat later. c. Sated cephalopod, still digesting last tasty fish. d. Write in answers: correct & incorrect ones will be enjoyed equally.

Thanks to the dedicated and tireless work of our crew on board R/V Falkor (too) supporting a worldwide array of researchers and scientists — we’re working daily to boldly explore our unknown ocean, every day! #OceanExplorationDay Read more: www.linkedin.com/posts/schmid...

Two skate passing in the dark. Between 200 and 145 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, these cartilaginous fish emerged — part of the class Chondrichthyes, which also includes sharks, stingrays, and chimaeras. ROV pilots filmed these at skate 432 meters during #ArgentinianDeepSeeps

Our final expedition video for #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition is out. During this successful bubble-hunting expedition, scientists not only found the bubbles but also myriad animals associated w/seeps: everything from giant coral reefs to gardens of sea pens. youtu.be/09uSPqhm58I?...