10/08/2026
Exciting news! CalCOFI was just granted $1.65M to study the effects of Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH) in southern/central California waters alongside partners from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The project, Characterizing Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Dynamics and Biological Responses in California State Waters to Inform CA Ocean Management, is designed to provide California agencies with additional scientific information that can inform state water quality and resource management decisions.
“I can’t wait to see what the research team finds over the next two and half years and how the state will use the information to better protect state waters and California’s marine biodiversity,” says Mark Gold, director of CalCOFI at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The funding will support studies of pH and oxygen trends over time, zooplankton responses to OAH, and pteropod shell dissolution using historical CalCOFI jar samples. These findings will then be communicated to state agencies so they can utilize the results in developing OAH management strategies for California.
To read more from SIO CalCOFI’s director, Mark Gold, on the exciting potential of this new project, visit the link in our bio.
Photo 1: An Oceanographic Technician preserves a water sample for Dissolved Inorganic Carbon analysis. Credit: Josie Adams, SIO
Photo 2: A pteropod shell under a microscope. Credit: NOAA
