USA: the National Science Foundation renounces to further remove or descope ocean observation equipments

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) "will not proceed with further removal or descoping equipments from the remaining arrays and will continue operations, including planned maintenance", regarding the Ocean Observatories Initiative, announced the Foundation on 18/06/2026.

Last May, the NSF had announced that it had initiated a descoping of the OOI major facilities, dismantling thus one of the largest ocean observatory system in the world, providing data on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans since 2000. This descoping plan included "the removal of all in-water infrastructure from the Irminger Sea, Station Papa, Endurance and Pioneer Arrays, off Alaska, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Greenland".

As a justification to the reversal of its decision, the NSF stated "that it appreciates the concerns raised by wide range of stakeholders who rely on data from the OOI".

The Foundation also announced that it is "collecting input from stakeholders and convening an expert panel to assess observational needs and evaluate available data sources, in order to help identify a sustainable…