For more than 30 years, MBARI technology has recorded real-time data about Monterey Bay, from oceanographic conditions at the surface to biological surveys in the depths of Monterey Canyon. These data are integral to understanding our changing ocean and underpin the institute’s efforts to monitor the impacts of the incoming El Niño, which has been predicted to be among the strongest since the beginning of modern oceanography.
Over the past month, MBARI researchers have detected the first signals of an extreme El Niño reaching Monterey Bay. MBARI moorings have recorded an anomalously strong influx of warm water at depth, while recent MBARI expeditions have observed warm-water species typically found farther south.