Research
MBARI's current efforts span the interdisciplinary fields of ocean science, including marine biology, geology, chemistry, and biological oceanography. MBARI also develops new oceanographic research tools and techniques, as well as technology related to ocean observatories.
Much of MBARI's research focuses on the development and use of robotic vehicles and other automated methods for gathering information in the ocean. These tools provide a unique view of ocean life and physical phenomena.
Research vessels
In December 2011, MBARI retired the RV Point Lobos after 23 years of service. In 2012, MBARI also retired the RV Zephyr, which served as a launch platform for MBARI's autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). These two boats were replaced by a single, larger boat, the Rachel Carson, which MBARI purchased in the summer of 2011. The Research Vessel Rachel Carson is able to launch both ROVs and AUVs, as well as conduct multi-day expeditions.
MBARI's flagship research vessel from 1996 to 2022 was the RV Western Flyer, a 35.6-meter (117-foot) small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) ship deploying the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts, through a moon pool in the center of the ship. The Western Flyer supported ROV dives along much of the west coast of North America, from the Gulf of California to Vancouver Island, as well as around the Hawaiian islands.
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In 2021, MBARI unveiled the intention to construct a new research vessel, the RV David Packard. The ship's exterior was completed and was launched in October 2022. The ship was delivered in March 2025 and began performing science missions in summer 2025.
Underwater vehicles
MBARI has been a pioneer in the development and scientific use of two types of underwater robots—remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). ROVs are robotic submersibles that are connected through a very long tether to a ship at the sea surface. They are controlled by pilots and researchers on board the surface ship. AUVs are robotic submersibles that are programmed at the sea surface and then released to collect data autonomously, with little or no human intervention.
MBARI's ROV Doc Ricketts is a four kilometer depth-rated vehicle, named after the pioneering marine ecologist Ed Ricketts. ROV Doc Ricketts has been deployed from the R/V Western Flyer since 2009, when it replaced ROV Tiburon, which had been deployed from the R/V Western Flyer since 1997.
ROV Ventana is a 1.8 km depth-rated vehicle. It was built for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute by International Submarine Engineering according to specifications developed by David Packard and the original core group of scientists and engineers at MBARI. The vehicle was delivered in 1988 with a standard suite of instruments and cameras. Data collection sensors, a high definition camera, and animal collection devices have been added over the course of more than 3,600 dives.
In addition to ROVs, MBARI has also developed untethered undersea robots called autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). MBARI's Dorado-class AUVs are 53.3 centimetres (21.0 inches) in diameter and can be as short as 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) or as long as 6.4 meters (21 feet), depending on the mission. Dorado-class AUVs currently operational at MBARI include the upper-water-column AUV, the seafloor mapping AUV, and the imaging AUV. The core vehicle elements are deep-rated (the mapping AUV is 6,000 meters rated) and have been operated as long as 20 hours.
MBARI's Tethys AUV, also called the long-range AUV, is a new AUV designed to operate over longer ranges. Tethys is 30.5 cm (12.0 in) in diameter, 230 cm (7.5 ft) long, and weighs 120 kg. Tethys provides capabilities falling between existing propeller driven AUVs, which typically have endurances on the order of a day, and buoyancy-driven vehicles (gliders) that can operate for many months. In October 2011, Tethys spent 24 days at sea traveling nearly 1,800 km.
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