Blue World Research Institute Inc.

Blue World Research Institute Inc., a nonprofit marine ecology research organization based in Cocoa, Florida, operates exclusively as a prime contractor to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, delivering specialized marine science research, environmental assessment, and technical support services for offshore energy development planning and marine conservation without competing under federal set-aside categories.

The organization holds a dominant position with a single customer agency. The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management accounts for all 45 prime awards and the full $43 million in combined potential value across Blue World's federal footprint. This concentration reflects Blue World's strategic specialization: the vendor operates three master indefinite delivery vehicles with BOEM, anchored by a $20 million single-award IDIQ for ecological research and environmental assessment services (awarded December 15, 2022, through December 31, 2027), which carries 26 task orders worth $10.3 million in combined potential value. A second $5.6 million IDIQ for telemetry and communication support services supports 10 task orders worth $5.3 million, and a $785 thousand blanket purchase agreement has generated 4 task orders at that combined value. The organization's work portfolio is narrowly focused: 38 of 45 awards fall under Environmental Consulting Services NAICS, with 33 under the PSC code for Special Studies/Analysis–Environmental Assessments.

Blue World's capability footprint centers on marine species monitoring, risk assessment modeling, acoustic impact analysis, behavioral and spatial ecology research, and decision-support tool development for offshore wind and oil-and-gas environments. Representative work includes a $790,524 delivery order for Acoustic Workbench development (March 18, 2026, completion February 15, 2029), a $2.57 million order for in-situ apex predator distribution data collection (September 30, 2023, completion January 5, 2028), a $1.83 million delivery order for large whale spatial and behavioral research (December 30, 2021, completion May 6, 2025), and a $980,620 order for scientific and technical support on emerging resources including critical minerals (December 16, 2024, completion June 14, 2027). Recent awards in the past four weeks include a $770 thousand delivery order for SIEBA-MIMES technical scientific support (August 25, 2026), a $62,500 order for whale shark and large-bodied elasmobranch behavioral risk analysis (September 3, 2026), and a $48,600 order for spatial and acoustic ecology research (September 17, 2026).

Activity has grown materially in the past eighteen months. Awards per year ranged from three to four in 2022–2024, then accelerated to seven in 2025 and six in 2026 year-to-date. SCI-reported invoicing reflects this trajectory: $2.1 million across 1.2 FTEs in FY2023, $2.8 million across 4.3 FTEs in FY2024, and $7.6 million across 11.3 FTEs in FY2025. Government-paid blended rates on federal service contracts captured in SCI ranged from a median of $451.61 per hour to a 90th percentile of $3,472.40 per hour, reflecting a mix of field technicians, data analysts, and senior scientific staff. Blue World self-performs the majority of its marine science delivery; across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for an average of 9 percent of total contractor hours, with four named subcontractors recorded across the portfolio. Thirteen awards (combined potential value $6.7 million) reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, representing near-term recompete exposure for BOEM's marine science priorities.