The Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

Saildrone research fleet to circle Antarctica for 5 years

By Theo Stein, NOAA Research
The Southern Ocean is one of the roughest and most dangerous bodies of water on Earth. 

‘Perfect storm’: El Niño goes off the charts

By Dinah Voyles Pulver and Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY
Featuring quotes by Michael McPhaden
Sea surface temperatures just hit a record high in a 2.4-million square mile region of the deep Pacific Ocean known as Niño 3.4, the key area scientists are tracking to measure the rapidly strengthening El Niño. 

NOAA dispatches Saildrones to probe the engine of El Niño

By NOAA Research
On August 21, 2026, two orange Saildrone Explorer uncrewed surface vehicles departed Honolulu, Hawaii, bound for a vast, remote stretch of the eastern Pacific Ocean where a historic El Niño is gaining strength. 

Two giant warming patterns are brewing in the Pacific and warping US weather

By Isabelle Gerretsen, BBC
A rare but powerful combination of an immense Pacific Ocean heatwave and a “super El Niño” are set to have profound effects on US weather and marine life this autumn. 

New satellite tag offers longer tracking of baleen whales

By NOAA Fisheries
How do you track a 40-ton ocean giant without leaving a mark? Monitoring large whales is a delicate balancing act between science and safety.  

CICOES-funded researcher named Fulbright Scholar

Eight University of Washington researchers have been selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2026-2027 and will pursue studies around the world. 

CICOES Director John Horne helps bring Arctic research to life at the Anchorage Museum

By Joe Selmont
What does it look like to study a changing Arctic from aboard a research ship? 

New eDNA tool to help track recovery of sunflower sea star, a Pacific Coast ‘apex predator’

By Theo Stein, NOAA Research
A wasting disease that surged during the intense 2013-2016 Pacific marine heatwave known as the Blob decimated numerous species of sea stars and triggered the collapse of vast coastal kelp forests from the Aleutians to the Baja Peninsula. 

NOAA tests new ocean drone in Lake Washington to better understand atmospheric rivers

By George Waldenberger, KOMO Meteorologist
Featuring interviews with Andy Chiodi, CICOES Research Scientist, and Chidong Zhang, NOAA PMEL Oceanographer 

CICOES Researcher Interviewed in Powder Magazine: What Does the “Super El Niño” Mean for Next Ski Season?

By Ian Greenwood, Powder Magazine

You’ve probably seen the news by now. Some monstrous thing called a “Super El Niño” is coming, and it’s going to wash every ski resort on the continent into the sea.