StartBlue Ocean Enterprise Accelerator was one of 4 organizations awarded by NOAA to provide guidance and funding to help small businesses scale quickly to spur the development of ocean observation technologies and data services that support the Blue Economy and the NOAA Ocean Enterprise Initiative.

Apply this summer! Applications open June-July 2025 for early to mid-stage companies eligible for up to $200K in funding. The program runs September–December 2025.

📩 Sign up for updates, applications, and events here.

Born from UC San Diego’s StartBlue program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Rady School of Management, this accelerator is designed to launch and scale ocean-tech innovation across maritime, food and national security, coastal resilience, and economic growth. With support from 80+ industry, investment, government, and research partners, StartBlue provides a global launchpad for emerging Ocean Enterprises. 

Pictured left:  SCCOOS Board of Governors Chair - Libe Washburn, SCCOOS Program Staff - Nathalí Cordero Quirós, Megan Medina, Clarissa Anderson, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography Government Relations - Chris Castillo. Pictured right: SCCOOS and CeNCOOS visit Senator Adam Schiff (L to R) Chris Castillo, Megan Medina, Clarissa Anderson, Henry Ruhl (CeNCOOS Director), Libe Washburn, and Nathalí Cordero Quirós.

SCCOOS joined representatives from all 11 Regional Associations of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) in Washington, D.C. for the annual IOOS Spring Meeting—marking 25 years of collaboration with the IOOS Association! 

As part of the celebration, the IOOS Association proudly presented the inaugural IOOS Association Congressional Award for Bipartisan Leadership in Ocean Observing to Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in recognition of their leadership and commitment to ocean monitoring.. 

The meeting was kicked off by announcing the Bipartisan IOOS Reauthorization Bill (H.R. 2294) to Strengthen Ocean Monitoring. Introduced in the House by Rep. Ezell (R-MS) and co-sponsored by Reps. Bonamici (D-OR), Weber (R-TX), Dingell (D-MI), Radewagen (R-AS), and Davis (D-IL). See the Press Release here.

Over two days, we discussed strategic communications, IOOS National and Pan-Regional updates, service delivery & communications project priorities, ecosystem change initiatives across the Regional Associations, and updates on water level, waves, and webcam coordination.  

On March 27, SCCOOS met with Congressional offices to highlight the importance of sustained ocean observations in addressing stakeholder needs. We had the opportunity to engage with staff from the offices of: Rep Levin, Rep Carbajal, Rep Brownley, Rep Vargas, Rep Min, Rep Obernolte, and Sen Schiff. Additional information on the FY25 appropriations request is available on the IOOS Association website. 

We asked the offices to please continue showing their support for SCCOOS and U.S. IOOS Enterprise by singing the House Dear Colleague Letter led by Pingree (D-ME), Ezell (R-MS), Carbajal (D-CA), and Weber (R-TX), and Senate Dear Colleague Letter is led by Wicker (R-MS) and Cantwell (D-WA).

Click here to view our regional flyers - Los Angeles region and Santa Barbara region

Operation STEM Bait Sharks & Robots Program 
CSULB  College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics hosted Bridge Builders Foundation in Los Angeles and CSULB SharkLab to facilitate a 4-day program that taught students about what it takes to be a shark researcher (pictured above).  This involved getting up close with stingray biology, shark anatomy, learning how to pilot  a drone, tag and monitor sharks and rays, and how to interpret the data.

Those of you that have dreams of being a shark researcher... know that those jobs are out there! CSULB SharkLab recently hired five undergraduate student educators who have gone through 2 months of training, and they are delivering curriculum in local schools. It is these budding scientists, still in college, that had all the fun described above.   

Thanks to the first round of Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act funding, scientists at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo completed antenna calibrations in Pt. Arguello, CA, (AGL1 & ARG1) and Pt. Sal, CA (FBK1) near Vandenberg Space Force Base. These measurements give us Surface Currents, ocean observations that are foundational to oil spill response and recovery, search and rescue, ecosystem management, and much more. Calibrations were completed once we received approval to use the US developed, Blue Halo IE V2 drone. 

It has been busy over at Farallon Institute. With funding from the National Science Foundation they created a webpage dedicated to seabirds as a ‘sentinel species’. Allowing scientists to observe seabirds to further our understanding of the health of the oceans. For a deeper dive, they’ve released their Winter 2025 seabird report and MOCI update, Oct-Dec 2024.  Earlier this year SCCOOS featured Marisol García-Reyes - Ecosystem Indicators & Fisheries (pictured above), a scientist with expertise in climate indicators and atmospheric trends.

SCCOOS program staff and our network of scientists, techs, and students are spreading the ocean observing word by giving presentations, providing tours, attending meetings, facilitating webinars - you name it! All with the hope of raising our awareness with the latest science. Above you see glimpses of NHABON,  Dialogues w/ Industry and NOAA West Watch Webinars - all that either are facilitated by or features SCCOOS Director Clarissa Anderson.  Deputy Director Megan Medina presented on Merito Foundation’s Vamos a la Playa project. Designed to empower teachers, inspire students, and build leadership. 

Best way to see what is coming up is to check out our latest  On The Horizon, sign up here. 

Please say hi if you see us, below are a few upcoming events.