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Preliminary results from the first EPA-permitted ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) field trial
https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/oae-prelim/February 25, 2026
LOC-NESS project team shares findings at annual Ocean Sciences Meeting
Woods Hole, Mass. and Glasgow, UK (February 25, 2026, 3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET) — The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) today announced preliminary findings from the first U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-permitted ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) field trial, which was conducted in federal waters in the Gulf of Maine in August 2025. The trial, part of the. The findings from the LOC-NESS (Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope) project were shared at a press briefing at the biennial Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM), the premier international conference of marine scientists, students, and professionals, currently underway in Glasgow, Scotland.
Ocean alkalinity enhancement is a marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approach identified by leading scientific bodies, including the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as a high-potential strategy for durable atmospheric carbon dioxide removal. OAE works by enhancing the ocean’s natural capacity to absorb carbon dioxide while simultaneously avoiding extra ocean acidification. This research, which has earned significant, independent support from the scientific community, is funded by several philanthropic and federal sources and advances critical goals laid out in the National Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Strategy released by the U.S. government in 2024.
In August 2025, the LOC-NESS team conducted an engineered, six-hour dispersal in the Wilkinson Basin area of the Gulf of Maine. Highly purified sodium hydroxide, commonly used to adjust the pH of drinking water, was introduced into the surface waters of the Wilkinson Basin area of the Gulf of Maine along with a red tracer dye known as Rhodamine Water Tracer (RWT). WHOI scientists in a fully equipped research vessel followed behind the release vessel to carefully monitor environmental conditions and then remained on-site to follow the patch of alkalinity for four days, tracking the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of the ocean to assess OAE’s potential for safely removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition, scientists deployed four self-propelled autonomous underwater vehicles and free-swimming gliders to measure key water properties before, during, and after release and monitored the evolution of the alkalinity patch by satellite. Complementary observations included CTD profiles, water sampling, plankton net tows, and satellite imagery. Release of the alkalinity was also observed by WHOI engineers, chemical industry experts, federal regulators, and a commercial fisher.
…
Preliminary findings from the LOC-NESS field trials confirm:
LOC-NESS project team shares findings at annual Ocean Sciences Meeting
Woods Hole, Mass. and Glasgow, UK (February 25, 2026, 3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET) — The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) today announced preliminary findings from the first U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-permitted ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) field trial, which was conducted in federal waters in the Gulf of Maine in August 2025. The trial, part of the. The findings from the LOC-NESS (Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope) project were shared at a press briefing at the biennial Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM), the premier international conference of marine scientists, students, and professionals, currently underway in Glasgow, Scotland.
Ocean alkalinity enhancement is a marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approach identified by leading scientific bodies, including the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as a high-potential strategy for durable atmospheric carbon dioxide removal. OAE works by enhancing the ocean’s natural capacity to absorb carbon dioxide while simultaneously avoiding extra ocean acidification. This research, which has earned significant, independent support from the scientific community, is funded by several philanthropic and federal sources and advances critical goals laid out in the National Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Strategy released by the U.S. government in 2024.
In August 2025, the LOC-NESS team conducted an engineered, six-hour dispersal in the Wilkinson Basin area of the Gulf of Maine. Highly purified sodium hydroxide, commonly used to adjust the pH of drinking water, was introduced into the surface waters of the Wilkinson Basin area of the Gulf of Maine along with a red tracer dye known as Rhodamine Water Tracer (RWT). WHOI scientists in a fully equipped research vessel followed behind the release vessel to carefully monitor environmental conditions and then remained on-site to follow the patch of alkalinity for four days, tracking the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of the ocean to assess OAE’s potential for safely removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition, scientists deployed four self-propelled autonomous underwater vehicles and free-swimming gliders to measure key water properties before, during, and after release and monitored the evolution of the alkalinity patch by satellite. Complementary observations included CTD profiles, water sampling, plankton net tows, and satellite imagery. Release of the alkalinity was also observed by WHOI engineers, chemical industry experts, federal regulators, and a commercial fisher.
…
Preliminary findings from the LOC-NESS field trials confirm:
- It represented a successful and controlled dispersal of alkalinity and tracer.
- Effective tracking of the alkaline patch for approximately five days (dispersal day plus subsequent monitoring) is possible.
- There is a strong correlation between modeled and observed dispersal patterns.
- Seawater pH and tracer levels returned to baseline within the expected timeframes.
- The experiment successfully and safely produced conditions that allowed the surface ocean to take up carbon from the atmosphere. A portion of the resulting CO₂ uptake can be quantified by combining pH and pCO₂ measurements with data from the rhodamine tracer.
- Tracking an alkalinity patch in the ocean with a water tracer dye is a highly effective monitoring approach at the research stage.