Follow along with NOAA's Ocean Explorer on a four-year effort with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as scientists shed light on little-known natural resources of deep ocean canyons.
On August 11, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer discovered and explored a Japanese cargo ship, Amakasu Maru No.1, near Wake Atoll in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Using remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer, the team visually documented the wreckage, the condition of the ship, and living communities growing on and around the site. The dive was streamed live on the Internet - via telepresence - for archaeologists and scientists to participate in the dive in real time and for the public to follow along live.
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin two months of dives using unmanned remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, to explore marine protected areas in the central Pacific Ocean. Starting on Aug. 1, anyone with an internet connection can virtually explore the deep sea with scientists and researchers from their computer or mobile device.
Testing new scientific technology is a risky business. In the case of two Saildrones released in the eastern Bering Sea over a month ago, the risk has led to big rewards. Equipped with a suite of scientific sensors, the unmanned surface vehicles are performing beyond researchers’ expectations during their first test run in cold waters. Each Saildrone has collected over 40 million measurements over the course of the planned 2.5 month test mission.
Today, a multi-national team of Canadian, European and American ocean mapping experts launch the first trans-Atlantic mapping survey under the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance. The expedition will map from St. John, Newfoundland to Galway, Ireland.
The survey is one of the first projects to be launched by the Alliance, formed in May 2013 following the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation, whose goals are to join resources of its three signatories to better understand the North Atlantic Ocean and to promote the sustainable management of its resources.
Beginning April 10, scientists aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin a series of 20 dives to investigate previously unseen depths of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean – and the public can follow along online.
During dives that are expected to go as deep as 3.7 miles, a sophisticated unmanned submarine, called a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, will broadcast live video from the seafloor, allowing anyone with Internet access to watch the expedition as it unfolds.