June 19, 2026 — The Trump administration has reversed course on its effort to shut down a network of ocean research stations in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The National Science Foundation on Thursday announced a halt to the dismantling of floating scientific observatories off Alaska, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Greenland.
Researchers were offloading the last of the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s six high-tech data buoys from Pacific Northwest waters onto a flatbed truck in Newport, Oregon, Thursday morning when they got the word: The science foundation was turning the dismantling ship around.
“The U.S. National Science Foundation appreciates the concerns raised by the range of stakeholders that have informed us they rely on data from the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI),” the agency’s statement reads. “Effective immediately, NSF will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance.”