On April 24, 2014, BIOS faculty, staff, and supporters gathered in the Tradewinds Auditorium at BUEI to highlight a quarter century of science carried out through the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS), and to celebrate the numerous individuals who have contributed to the growth and longevity of the oceanographic time-series.

Earlier this month, the 2014 University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) Chief Scientist Training Cruise wrapped up, with the R/V Atlantic Explorer returning to her berth at BIOS after a nine day cruise between Barbados and Bermuda. The purpose of these cruises is to give early-career marine scientists, including PhD students, insight into what it takes to successfully plan and execute a research cruise—everything from acquiring funded ship time to mobilizing laboratory equipment and supplies, from reporting at sea to living aboard a working research vessel.

For young oceanographers, one of the most exciting components of their undergraduate and graduate education is the prospect of going to sea aboard a working research vessel, particularly if they get to conduct scientific research for their thesis or as a project technician. Unfortunately, for many students—particularly those at smaller institutions or not affiliated with larger, well-established research programs—obtaining funded shiptime remains a significant hurdle in their practical education.

Sustained ocean observations provide the foundation for much of the chemical and physical oceanographic research that’s taking place around the world. Such observations, collected over the years and sometimes decades, give scientists insight into global cycles, regional variability and seasonal trends, and long-term changes in ocean chemistry.

In 1872 the H.M.S. Challenger embarked upon a four-year scientific journey to survey and explore the world’s ocean, including the deep sea in the great ocean basins. During this time, her crew and scientific staff collected 492 depth soundings and 263 observations of water temperature—an impressive feat considering their equipment consisted of a plumb line marked in 25 fathom intervals and several thermometers (including a reversing thermometer, which could measure temperature at specific depths).  The resulting 50-volume report laid the foundation for the modern fields of oceanography.

We are familiar with how climate change is impacting the ocean’s biology, from bleaching events that cause coral die-offs to algae blooms that choke coastal marine ecosystems, but it is becoming clear that a warming planet is also impacting the physics of ocean circulation.

For decades, sea-going research vessels have been the backbone of observational oceanography, giving scientists mobile platforms to conduct a variety of open-ocean research for days, or even weeks, at a time. Oceanographic research continues to build off previous work and, at the same time, the scale of research questions has broadened. As a result, the desire for more frequent observations of the deep ocean has driven the development of new technologies to increase research capability and accessibility.