FEATURE | The LOC-NESS Project: Risk or Reward? The Two Sides of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement

How far should we go to fight climate change? Would you take a risk for our planet?

The Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope Project, otherwise known as the LOC-NESS Project, is a research experiment conducting ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) in Wilkinson’s Bay in the Gulf of Maine. The project is supported by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and SubhasLabs. On August 13, 2025, scientists released over 16,500 gallons of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution into the ocean, hoping to enhance ocean alkalinity and consequently reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels. Alkalinity gives seawater the ability to counter climate change through countering CO₂-induced ocean acidification. When absorbed,  CO₂ lowers the ocean pH and causes ocean acidification. Alkalinity is the ability to neutralize acids and increase pH. According to WHOI, higher alkalinity lowers the concentration of CO₂ in seawater, creating more capacity for the ocean to absorb additional CO₂. This process also converts carbon dioxide into a stable form that is less likely to return to the atmosphere, thereby reducing atmospheric carbon levels. Alkalinity fights climate change through these processes, countering one of the Earth’s biggest challenges.

Climate change is caused largely by greenhouse gases such as CO₂, which allows sunlight to enter Earth’s atmosphere but traps heat inside. As the heat within the atmosphere grows, the Earth's temperature rises, leading to climate change. This imbalance causes damage within nature’s ecosystems, like the elimination of keystone species due to changing environments, affecting people and wildlife. And while the evolution of environments is part of nature’s timeline, climate change has drastically and unnaturally sped up the process. 

The LOC-NESS Project aims to “assess the biological impacts and the engineered safety of OAE.” Its results, once analyzed, will help determine whether OAE can be used on a larger scale and counter climate change. However, no experiment is without its risks, and the project was met with protests from environmental justice groups.

These groups stated their concerns about the impact of the NaOH on local marine life. NaOH results in chemical burns upon contact with skin or marine life. Its release into the ocean had the possibility of injuring local marine life and resulting in a consequential imbalance of the ecosystem. A report by Dan Walmsley named the Gulf of Maine as home to around 30 coastal and marine endangered species, including many species of fish, whales, turtles, and birds. Of these species, at least 8 reside in Wilkinson’s Bay, including the Leatherback sea turtle and the North Atlantic right whale. The North Atlantic Right Whale, especially, Walmsley writes, is considered the most endangered in the Gulf of Maine. Some worried the experiment would affect the ocean's natural ability to absorb carbon and that it wouldn’t help with resolving climate change in the long run. 

Sarah Schumann, a writer for the National Fisherman, witnessed the experiment and wrote of the process. On August 13 in Wilkinson’s Bay, the Peter M. Mahoney, a vessel contracted by the LOC-NESS team, released 16,500 gallons of NaOH solution into the ocean. The team, made up of WHOI scientists, followed behind in the research vessel Connecticut, recording data. A mixture of NaOH solution and seawater was released into the bay through two pumps and an outflow pipe on the Peter M. Mahoney. One pump was for a solution with 50% NaOH and 20% rhodamine tracer dye. The dye colored the solution hot pink, making the alkalinity-enhanced water distinguishable. The other pump was to mix the solution and seawater before releasing it into the bay through the outflow pipe, which directed the mixture into the waters below. 

The team began releasing the mixture at 9 am that morning and continued to do so for 6 hours, ending the release at 3 pm that afternoon. The patch of pink water grew to a diameter of 800 meters, and there were no changes to the experiment except for a flow adjustment 3 hours in. Three hours into the experiment, the team was forced to decrease the NaOH flow rate by 50% due to the bay water pH surpassing the 8.7 allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The experiment ended successfully with a huge amount of data recorded. The data will take a long time to process; however, scientists were able to discern some immediate results.

According to Schumann, a week following the experiment, scientists confirmed that they had recorded a decrease in the CO₂ concentration of the water. They concluded that the ocean alkalinity had been successfully increased. As for any potential harm to the local wildlife, it was stated by Jennie Rheuban, one of the principal investigators on the project, that there were no mass mortalities recorded. Additionally, Rheuban confirmed that there were no sightings of protected species or masses of fish or eggs. Another scientist further said that no significant impact on the biological community had been observed. The team collected many samples focused on the ecosystem impacts of the project, but won’t have the full results for a number of months after the experiment, and if there are any possible long-term results, they haven’t been reported.

The LOC-NESS project may be one of the solutions for the ever-growing problem of climate change. Combating atmospheric carbon levels through OAE is one step closer to resolving the problem. But will the experiment, if conducted on a larger scale in the future, harm marine life and the ecosystems they contribute to? Or will it improve and counter the imbalance presented to such ecosystems by global warming and climate change? Most importantly, even though seemingly successful, does OAE have enough impact to counteract climate change?