1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

Support NSF Review of Ocean Observatories Initiative Dismantling I am writing to ask you to support the bipartisan congressional effort, initiated on June 15, urging the National Science Foundation to halt and review its plan to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). The OOI is a $386 million network of more than 900 ocean sensors that has tracked ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, and climate signals for the past decade. In May, NSF announced it would remove in-water infrastructure from four of the network’s five arrays, including sites off Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Removal has already begun at the Oregon site. Colleagues in both the Senate and House have pointed to the approaching El Niño as a reason this timing is especially concerning. Without this monitoring system, the country would lose real-time data needed to track and prepare for marine heat waves and weather disruptions associated with El Niño.   I respectfully ask you to add your voice to this effort and support a pause and review before this infrastructure is permanently removed.