Jump to Content

ocean exploration

Content

Now you can explore sunken shipwrecks from home

November 23, 2020

More On

ocean exploration

High resolution image of W.E. Hutton and the fish living on it. Fish are displayed with white dots as detected by an instrument called a multibeam echosounder.

Seamounts named to honor NOAA, partners’ role in ocean exploration

August 13, 2020

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

This image shows the topography of the Okeanos Explorer Seamount, a 4,711 foot feature located south of Midway Islands within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. NOAA scientists first mapped the seamount in March 2016 using shipboard mapping sonars and then explored it with OER’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer during the 2016 Hohonu Moana expedition.

'Magnificent' new sponge from the deep gets a name

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

In 2016, a team exploring via NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer encountered this sponge, reminiscent of the space alien from the movie, "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial." The team collected a sample of the sponge that scientists from NOAA Fisheries and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History later analyzed and determined to be a new genus and species, which they have named Advhena magnifica, Latin for “magnificent alien.”

NOAA, Schmidt Ocean Institute team to explore and map the ocean

More On

charts and maps

ocean exploration

The remotely operated vehicle SuBastian aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor at sunset in the Marianas Trench Marine Protected Area. (2016 photo)

Vulcan Inc. and NOAA to explore, understand and map the deep ocean

More On

ocean exploration

NOAA and cooperative institute scientists are releasing Deep Argo floats off Hawaii to test them in preparation for the major deployment NOAA and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation will conduct next year to create the the Atlantic Ocean array in international waters off Brazil.

Tiny creatures in underwater forest might hold promise for future medicines

More On

ocean exploration

Researcher Brian Helmuth of Northeastern University examines a sample of wood from the ancient underwater forest off the coast of Alabama for shipworms and other organisms that could be useful for future medicines.

NOAA, DOE announce winners of the Powering the Blue Economy Ocean Observing Prize

More On

measurements and observations

ocean exploration

NOAA and the U.S. Department of Energy announced the winners of the Powering the Blue Economy Ocean Observing Prize.

Take a virtual dive into the blue with NOAA Sanctuaries. No scuba mask required.

More On

ocean exploration

You can have this chance encounter with a sea lion in a Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary kelp forest -- all without leaving home. Check out NOAA Sanctuaries' 360-degree Virtual Videos online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov/VR.

More 'must-see TV': Tune into our deep-sea expedition in the U.S. Southeast

November 4, 2019

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

This synaphobranchid eel was documented preying on a fish during Dive 16 of NOAA's Windows to the Deep 2019, a recent expedition also to waters of the U.S. Southeast.

Watch live: NOAA’s deep-sea expedition to seamounts and canyons off U.S., Canada

August 26, 2019

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

A view inside the control room on board NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer during a remotely operated vehicle dive on the Windows to the Deep 2019: Exploration of the Southeast U.S. Continental Margin expedition.

Watch: 'Octonauts' make a visit to NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research teamed up with "The Octonauts" for a behind-the-scenes look at ocean exploration vessel NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Check out the video to join along on the tour!

See this? Giant squid in Gulf of Mexico is captured on video for first time

More On

ocean exploration

June 19, 2019: A giant squid at home in the Gulf of Mexico, at least 3 to 3.7 meters (10 to 12 feet) long, was filmed approaching the deep-sea camera Medusa's "e-jelly" lure before realizing the e-jelly is not food and then retreating. The squid was captured on film about 100 miles southeast of New Orleans, at the at the edge of the Gulf oil field. To get a better look, see the video at https://youtu.be/Lqim34DvCrs.

Watch live: NOAA expedition to unexplored waters off U.S. Southeast coast

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

The remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer (left; on the deck of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer) will be used to image unexplored areas of the Blake Plateau, Blake Ridge, Blake Escarpment, submarine canyons offshore of North Carolina, submerged cultural heritage sites, areas predicted to be suitable habitat for deep-sea corals and sponges, intercanyon areas, and gas seeps. 2019 photo.

Watch: NOAA's Okeanos Explorer makes unexpected discovery in Gulf of Mexico

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

A close-up view of the bow of a 19th-century shipwreck found in the Gulf of Mexico May 16, 2019. Marine life is prevalent on the wreck, except on the copper sheathing which still retains its antifouling ability to keep the hull free of marine organism like Teredo navalis (shipworm) that would otherwise burrow into the wood and consume the hull or barnacles that would reduce the vessel’s speed.

Aspiring ocean explorers get hands-on experience through the Explorers-in-Training program

December 23, 2019

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

Standing Watch: Explorers-in-Training Laura Almodovar, Victoria Dickey, and Kelsey Lane standing mapping watch at the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center.

Educators in the Pacific connect new discoveries, traditional culture, and the deep ocean

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

Educators participate in a communications lesson during a 2017 professional development workshop at the Tauese P.F. Sunia Ocean Center, National Marine Sanctuaries, American Samoa.

Fact vs. fiction: 3 things you thought you knew about jellyfish

August 30, 2018

More On

ocean exploration

This medusa belongs to the genus Cyanea, a jellyfish well-known to bloom and occur in large numbers in surface waters.

Stern of World War II U.S. destroyer discovered off remote Alaskan island by NOAA-supported scientists

August 15, 2018

More On

ocean exploration

PHOTO - Dive team investigates sonar targets collected via the REMUS 100 AUV, RV Norseman II sailing in the background - Kiska Alaska's Underwater Battlefield expedition - 1125x534 - Landscape.jpg

Scientists recover possible fragments of meteorite that landed in marine sanctuary

More On

ocean exploration

NASA scientist Dr. Marc Fries examines early samples attached to a magnetic board suspected to be fragments of a meteorite that fell into the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in March 2018.

Okeanos Explorer sets sail to the deep waters off the U.S. southeast coast

More On

ocean exploration

The Okeanos Explorer beats its way into heavy seas.

10 greatest sightings, so far, from NOAA’s exploration of the deepwater Pacific

September 6, 2017

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

science and technology

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer (right) in port on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, before the first remotely operated vehicle expedition of CAPSTONE in July 2015.

NOAA teams with Paul G. Allen Philanthropies to expand deep ocean observations

September 7, 2017

More On

measurements and observations

ocean exploration

Scientists deploy a Deep Argo float off New Zealand.

May 1 on Reddit: Chat with scientists exploring the unseen deep Pacific

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

The Okeanos Explorer beats its way into heavy seas. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Hohonu Moana.

Watch live: NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer probes seamounts, deep-water areas of central Pacific

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

From January 20 to February 11, 2017, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer conducted a mapping reconnaissance expedition in PRIMNM. In the Jarvis Unit of PRIMNM, multibeam data revealed an approximate 1,700 meter seamount height difference when compared to previous satellite altimetry. This is a great example of why it is important to map the seafloor using modern, high-resolution sonar systems.

Watch live: NOAA's Okeanos Explorer expedition to remote Pacific marine protected areas

More On

ocean exploration

Okeanos Explorer

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer is America's ship for exploration. Here's a great view of the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as it conducted operations in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2012.

NOAA ship journeys into remote, deep Pacific ocean

February 14, 2017

More On

ocean exploration

A sea toad, one of the many animals the mission may encounter, just hanging out, waiting for its next meal to swim by.

Educators in the Pacific learn about ocean ecosystems in their own deep water “backyards”

December 2, 2016

More On

ocean exploration

Educators participate in professional development connected to NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.

‘Every Full Moon’ video series debuts with sea creatures that light up the night

October 17, 2016

More On

ocean exploration

Here just a few of the sea creatures you'll learn about in NOAA Ocean Today's "Every Full Moon" video series.

NOAA establishes new panel to guide ocean exploration

November 13, 2014

More On

ocean exploration

Welcome to noaa.gov

Ocean Exploration webinars

More On

ocean exploration

This ghostlike octopod is almost certainly an undescribed species and may not belong to any described genus.

Ocean Explorer onsite workshops

More On

ocean exploration

March 27, 2012 – NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer conducts operations in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists discover largest sponge known during deep-sea exploration

More On

ocean exploration

A sponge the size of a minivan, the largest on record, was found in summer 2015 during a deep-sea expedition in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Octopod shows how little we know of life on earth

More On

ocean exploration

This ghost-like octopod is almost certainly an undescribed species and may not belong to any described genus. Image courtesy of NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

Seven miles deep, the ocean is still a noisy place

More On

ocean exploration

Top pair of floats going in as Full Ocean Depth Hydrophone is deployed in Challenger Deep on July 28, 2015.

Video: Exploring the oceans is our 'last grand challenge'

February 29, 2016

More On

ocean exploration

Video: The Last Grand Challenge. NOS Ocean Today. February 23, 2016.