The pandemic made it even harder to check on the ocean’s vital signs 

After taking a hit during the pandemic, the coming months will be a crucial time for ocean research. People rely on data collected at sea for weather forecasts, understanding climate change, and keeping coastal economies afloat. To make that happen, scientists keep track of everything from the temperatures to salinity and oxygen levels in the deep. But the COVID-19 crisis interrupted research around the world, and ocean scientists are trying to recover.

“Overnight, our vessel transformed from a research ship observing a decade’s worth of ocean changes, into a simple express steam home,” Leticia Barbero, an assistant scientist at the University of Miami, said in a June 2020 p...

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