A research programme, acquiring ocean measurements 15 miles off Bermuda’s shores, the longest-operating station of its kind, has been awarded a fresh grant for a further five years.

The backing comes from the United States Government’s National Science Foundation.

Since 1954, Hydrostation S has been tracking the temperature, salinity and carbon dioxide levels of the sea from its surface to a depth of nearly two miles.

With the implications of climate change increasingly felt worldwide, its work offers a window into the long-term changes of the open ocean.

The NSF grant covers $900,000 for research, as well as $3.1 million to support 120 days of studies at sea on board the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science’s vessel Atlantic Explorer.