{"id":5406,"date":"2010-04-05T00:02:01","date_gmt":"2010-04-05T08:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=5406"},"modified":"2010-04-05T00:02:01","modified_gmt":"2010-04-05T08:02:01","slug":"research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Vessel Docked for Lack of Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The research vessel Point Lobos, docked at Moss Landing. Photo: Craig Miller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Update: Since this original post, the status of the Point Lobos was updated<\/a> by Paul Rogers in the San Jose <\/em>Mercury News. The article also adds detail on the finances of MBARI and its primary funder.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has been forced to dock the workhorse of its research fleet, the R\/V Point Lobos<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

For years the vessel has ventured out three-to-five times a week, to conduct short-term experiments in the deep canyons of Monterey Bay. The ship serves as a platform for the Institute’s remote-control submarine, ROV Ventana<\/em><\/a>. The Point Lobos<\/em> and its robo-sub have played critical roles in recent experiments to study the effects of ocean acidification, among other endeavors.<\/p>\n

In the late 1980s, MBARI converted the 110-foot vessel from its original duty as an oilfield service boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then it’s completed more than 3,500 missions, with its seven-person crew and various teams of scientists.<\/p>\n

\"The
The remotely operated sub Ventana, perched on the afterdeck of the Point Lobos. Photo: Craig Miller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Institute spokesman Kim Fulton-Bennett says that as of April 1, the Lobos<\/em> is “mothballed” for the time being, its future uncertain. “It means we won’t have as frequent access to the ocean as we did,” Fulton-Bennett told me, as we stood on the dock at Moss Landing.<\/p>\n

“By going out several times a week, we’ve got a database of observations that goes back 20 years.”<\/p>\n

But the Wall Street woes of the past couple of years have taken their toll on the investment portfolios of many foundations, including MBARI’s primary funder<\/a>, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which Fulton-Bennett says has reduced it’s funding for MBARI.<\/p>\n

H-P co-founder David Packard launched MBARI in 1987 with the goal of applying advanced technology to marine research. The Institute relies on the Packard Foundation for 80% of its funding, typically $30-to-40 million per year, according to the MBARI annual report.<\/p>\n

The Institute has two other vessels in its research fleet<\/a>, a converted pilot boat called the Zephyr<\/em><\/a> and the 117-foot Western Flyer<\/em><\/a>, a twin-hulled, ultra-stable vessel that resembles a catamaran-style ferry. The Flyer<\/em> is deployed on longer-duration missions in open sea, usually with project-specific funding.<\/p>\n

The Point Lobos<\/em> is featured in Lauren Sommer’s radio report\/audio slide show<\/a> for KQED’s Quest series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED. Economic turmoil takes its toll on the research fleet at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[131,179,367,401,579],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-5406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-business","tag-coastal","tag-economics","tag-monterey-bay","tag-oceans","tag-technology"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nResearch Vessel Docked for Lack of Funds | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Research Vessel Docked for Lack of Funds | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UPDATED. Economic turmoil takes its toll on the research fleet at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-04-05T08:02:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2010\/04\/MBARI_0608.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Craig Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@voxterra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Craig Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/\",\"name\":\"Research Vessel Docked for Lack of Funds | Climate Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-05T08:02:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-04-05T08:02:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/f7222c517400a6c4b0336fca3652c323\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2010\/04\/05\/research-vessel-docked-for-lack-of-funds\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Research Vessel Docked for Lack of Funds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Watch\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/f7222c517400a6c4b0336fca3652c323\",\"name\":\"Craig Miller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/dd8f4f4f978df3faac9db4c510939ea0\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b91661df645e001a9cafe0861fa685f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b91661df645e001a9cafe0861fa685f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Craig Miller\"},\"description\":\"Craig is a former KQED Science editor, specializing in weather, climate, water & energy issues, with a little seismology thrown in just to shake things up. 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