Schmidt Ocean Institute

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 Breaking Boundaries at the Bottom of the World website where you can follow the extraordinary Sea Women Expeditions journey taking place February 14 – March 10, 2026. The Daily Journal features expedition reflections, creative moments and scientific field notes from the 25 explorers. Use the purple filters to narrow in on a specific explorer or boat and click on a point to learn more about their experience.

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.

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean A Closer Look (ft. Colleen Durkin) | Science Story

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

A collage of women working on a deep-sea research vessel.

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).

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean Welcome to the Midwater! | Animals as Living Bioreactors PART 1

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...

Update: Isopod, not amphipod

Isn't that the best? (tbh at least one of us may have never seen a scallop swimming until recently...!)

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

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean Connection to the Sea | Life in Extremes — Cold Seeps of Argentina

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?...

Float like a glass squid.

What might it feel like to reach a state where your body’s density perfectly matches your surroundings? Their buoyant bodies are filled with ammonium chloride, which is lighter than seawater, helping them to conserve energy while traveling. 1,729 m #ArgentinianDeepSeeps

Threats to funding and freedom in art and science belie the deep connections between the two seemingly disparate disciplines, and their combined power to address our most pressing problems. Read my op-ed: www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/14/a... @schmidtocean.bsky.social @schmidtsciences.bsky.social

A bustling seafloor scene from the #taleof2canyons expedition: “We studied how these canyons can facilitate such incredible biodiversity,” said Chief Scientist Dr. Silvia Ines Romero. “What are the mechanisms — the currents and the chemistry — that support all of this life?”

2026 Research Expeditions on R/V Falkor (too) 2026 Research Expeditions on R/V Falkor (too)

In 2026, we'll journey across the SW Atlantic Ocean. Fr deep waters off Brazil to seamounts in the Mid-Atlantic, we'll help document biodiversity, study physical, chemical, geological phenomena & map seafloor features. schmidtocean.org/cruises/schm...

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean Life in Extremes — Cold Seeps of Argentina | 4K ROV Highlights

The #ArgentinianDeepSeeps team completed 1st comprehensive study of Argentina’s cold seeps. Their goal: to understand how the animal communities live and interact with localized physical, geological, and chemical conditions as well as with surrounding deep-sea ecosystems.

youtu.be/KvJewhMvrIQ?...

Take a slow ride . . . by snail!
Read the full post about this example of mutualistic symbiosis and the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition here: www.instagram.com/reel/DTTbCSp...

Sea squirts & squid!

ROV pilots filmed these salps and spectacular squid during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition with @oceancensus.bsky.social in early 2025. Salps, also known as sea squirts, are ubiquitous throughout the Ocean, and abundant in the Southern Ocean.

Benthic ctenophores clinging to tunicates attached to a submarine canyon wall ~1.75 miles deep, during #ArgentinianDeepSeeps. Platyctenida have colloblasts, or sticky cells that release a mucus-like glue when they unspool extra-long tentacles into the water column and fish for their next meal.