2023 ANNUAL REPORT

NOAA Ocean Exploration 2023:
A Year in Review

Introduction

NOAA Ocean Exploration kicked off 2023 with a new strategic plan that will guide how we work to achieve our mission and realize our vision for Fiscal Years 2023-2027. In 2023, in the spirit of the new plan, we led and supported expeditions to enable scientific discovery; strengthened our network of partners; tested and supported the development of new and emerging technologies; engaged and informed a variety of audiences about the value, importance, and excitement of deep-ocean exploration; and more.

The results of our scientific endeavors increase our knowledge and understanding of the ocean and contribute to national and international priorities — including the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and Seabed 2030 — that support conservation and sustainable management of ocean habitats and resources.

This report is a high-level summary of NOAA Ocean Exploration’s accomplishments for 2023.

Mission icon
Mission

Explore the ocean for national benefit.

Vision icon
Vision

Ocean exploration, rigorous scientific discovery, and advancements in undersea technologies inform decision-makers and help them strengthen the economy, health, and security of the United States and the global community.

Jump to Section By the Numbers Exploring the Deep Ocean Working With Others Ocean Data Outreach & Education

By the Numbers

NOAA Ocean Exploration

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer

0
Expeditions
0
Days at Sea
0
Remotely Operated Vehicle Dives
0
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Dives
0

square kilometers
(95,633 square miles)

Seafloor Mapped*
0

square kilometers
(85,175 square miles)

Seafloor Mapped in U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone*
0
Primary Biological Samples Collected
0
Primary Geological Samples Collected
0
Water Samples Collected (eDNA)
0
Participating Scientists
0
+
Livestream Views

Competitive Grants

0
Competitive Grants Awarded
0
Days of Uncrewed Maritime Systems Deployment by Grant Recipients
0
Ocean Education Mini-Grants Awarded

Outreach & Education

0
Educators Trained
0
5.

MILLION

NOAA Ocean Exploration Website Views
0
~

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & YouTube

NOAA Ocean Exploration Social Media Followers
0
~

Facebook

NOAA Ocean Exploration Education Social Media Followers
0
Interns

*Estimate pending final data review.

Exploring the Deep Ocean on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer at the dock in Alaska.

In 2023, NOAA Ocean Exploration led nine community-driven expeditions in the Pacific Ocean on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to improve knowledge about unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas. Results from these expeditions include maps of previously unknown ocean areas; the discovery of new marine species, habitats, and geological features; and volumes of new data. During these expeditions, we also introduced new technologies and tested others not currently used as part of standard operations on Okeanos Explorer.

U.S. West Coast

In spring and fall, NOAA Ocean Exploration led three expeditions as part of the EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) campaign. During these expeditions, we conducted traditional shakedown, mapping, remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and sampling operations off the U.S. West Coast from Southern California to Washington, including in and around the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands, Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Olympic Coast national marine sanctuaries. In addition, we worked with partners to add a still camera to ROV Deep Discoverer and test two autonomous underwater vehicles (mapping and imaging AUVs), a drop camera system, and a system for filtering water samples for environmental DNA analysis. During ROV operations, we collected several species that may be new to science, including a sea star (Hydrasterias sp.), a brittle star (Ophiomitra sp.), glass sponges (Hexactinellidae), and a coral. We also noted possible range extensions for a snake star (Asteroschema sp.) and an unbranched basket star (Astrochele sp.), meaning they had not been seen in these locations before.

Alaska

2023 marked NOAA Ocean Exploration’s first visit to Alaskan waters on Okeanos Explorer, during which we led a series of six expeditions. These Seascape Alaska expeditions explored the deep waters of the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska and were part of a larger project recognized by the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

In addition to extending seafloor mapping coverage, mapping operations unveiled gas seeps along the Aleutian Trench and in the Gulf of Alaska and a submarine canyon nicknamed “Big Bend Canyon” and revealed the true height of a known seamount off Canada to be 700 meters (2,297 feet) taller than previously thought. In addition, we mapped an area of the Inside Passage last mapped over 100 years ago — with lead lines.

Features explored during ROV operations included seamounts, canyons, gas seeps, coral and sponge gardens, and the water column. Geological highlights included methane hydrates, small seamounts of unknown age and origin that appear unrelated to the region’s larger seamount chains, evidence that several seamounts in the Kodiak-Bowie chain were once islands, and submarine landslides, including a very large one that may have had a role in the 1946 Pacific-wide tsunami.

During ROV operations, we collected several species that may be new to science (and observed numerous others), including a nine-armed sea star (Asthenactis sp.), a basket star (Gorgonocephalidae), three octocorals (including a sea pen (Virgularia sp.), and a mushroom coral (Anthomastus sp.)). We also noted range extensions for a sea star (Astrocles sp.) and a coral (Hemicorallium sp.), meaning neither had been seen in their respective parts of Alaska before. Other interesting biological observations included numerous areas of deep-sea coral and sponge habitat, high-biodiversity coral and sponge gardens, a high-density carnivorous sponge “forest,” octopod nurseries, a rare pyramid-shaped urchin (Echinocrepis sp.), a large tubeworm and clam field estimated to be the length of two football fields — possibly the largest such field ever discovered — and an unidentified "golden orb."

Working With Others to Advance Ocean Exploration

To achieve our mission, NOAA Ocean Exploration works closely with other organizations, sharing resources and expertise, to conduct and support ocean exploration expeditions, produce innovations in ocean exploration tools and capabilities, and maximize data collection.

Seafloor map off the coast of California.
Image courtesy of NOAA and Saildrone.

In 2023, we benefited from, supported, and expanded numerous existing partnerships and formed new ones. Significantly, as part of an interagency public-private partnership project using the Saildrone Surveyor, we mapped 29,720 square kilometers (11,475 square miles) of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone off California, including an unknown seamount rising approximately 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) off the seafloor. Within NOAA, we became the home for NOAA ’Omics, which coordinates ’omics activities across NOAA Research; collected mapping data in the Gulf of Alaska on NOAA Ship Kilo Moana during its transit to Hawai‘i; worked with the Office of Coast Survey to collect mapping data on NOAA Ship Rainier while it was transiting between operating areas in the Pacific; and contributed to the establishment of the NOAA Center of Excellence for Operational Ocean and Great Lakes Mapping at the University of New Hampshire. In addition, we signed an agreement with Proteus Ocean Group to explore uses of their groundbreaking underwater lab and facilitated NOAA’s renewal of a memorandum of understanding with OceanX to continue collaborating on ocean mapping, exploration, and the advancement of ocean science.

By working with organizations with a wide range of experience, expertise, and creativity, NOAA Ocean Exploration is able to enhance the potential for significant new advances in discovery, understanding, action, and inspiration. We support much of this work through the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute and our annual competitive grant program.

NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute

Left: Uncrewed surface vessel DriX with Exploration Vessel Nautilus in the background. Center: Autonomous underwater vehicle Mesobot being recovered from the ocean. Right: The Deep Autonomous Profiler Lander on the deck of Exploration Vessel Nautilus.
This year’s OECI Multi-vehicle Exploration expedition combined complementary exploration capabilities of OECI-affiliate assets to explore the ocean from the seafloor through the water column. These assets were Exploration Vessel Nautilus (Ocean Exploration Trust), uncrewed surface vessel DriX (University of New Hampshire), autonomous underwater vehicle Mesobot (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), and the Deep Autonomous Profiler Lander (University of Rhode Island). Images courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust.

The NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI) furthers NOAA Ocean Exploration’s mission through the capabilities of its affiliated institutions — University of Rhode Island, Ocean Exploration Trust (OET), University of New Hampshire, University of Southern Mississippi (USM), and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Recent OECI accomplishments include operational exploration, technological innovation, data stewardship, and engagement with historically minoritized groups.

The metrics below are based on OECI-supported expeditions on OET’s Nautilus (see below), USM’s Research Vessel Point Sur, NOAA Ship Nancy Foster, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer (autonomous underwater vehicle mapping only), and the Saildrone Surveyor. The OECI also contributed to the inaugural expedition on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Research Vessel Falkor (too).

0
Expeditions
0
Days at Sea
0
Remotely Operated Vehicle Dives
0
Other Uncrewed Maritime Systems Dives
0

square kilometers
(57,169 square miles)

Seafloor Mapped
0

square kilometers
(51,106 square miles)

Seafloor Mapped in U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
0
Primary Biological Samples Collected
0
Primary Geological Samples Collected
0
Water Samples Collected (eDNA)
0
Participating Scientists
0
Livestream Views

Exploration Vessel Nautilus

Exploration Vessel Nautilus at sea.
Image courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust.

In 2023, NOAA Ocean Exploration supported seven expeditions on OET's Exploration Vessel Nautilus in the central Pacific through the OECI. These expeditions focused on mapping, remotely operated vehicle, and multi-vehicle operations within U.S. waters in and around the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, Johnston Atoll, and Jarvis Island) and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and south of the main Hawaiian Islands.

The underwater wreck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.
The underwater wreck of the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Akagi.
The underwater wreck of the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Kaga.
From left to right: USS Yorktown, Imperial Japanese Navy Akagi (赤城), and Imperial Japanese Navy Kaga (加賀). Images courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust, NOAA.

Highlights included the successes of the OECI Multi-vehicle Exploration expedition and in-depth archaeological assessments of three historically significant aircraft carriers lost during the Battle of Midway. During these historic dives, shoreside archaeologists came together to help guide the dives and provide valuable real-time interpretations from the NOAA Exploration Command Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. NOAA Ocean Exploration also hosted an event that brought together NOAA leadership, dignitaries (including three representatives from the Embassy of Japan), and other key partners with a shared interest in the Battle of Midway.

Learn more in Exploring the Eastern and Central Pacific: 2023 Field Season Summary, OET's Top 10 WOW Moments of 2023, and 2023 Expedition Season Highlights: Deep Sea Science and Collaboration (video).

Annual Competitive Grant Program

NOAA Ocean Exploration conducts an annual ocean exploration competitive grant program, funding interdisciplinary and innovative ocean exploration-related projects that support our priorities. Through the Fiscal Year 2023 competition, NOAA Ocean Exploration awarded funds to nine projects, totaling over $5 million, across three categories: ocean exploration, technology, and maritime heritage.

In 2023, grant awardees conducted work in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and Lake Huron, searching for shipwrecks and other historic artifacts off Guam, the the Northern Mariana Islands, and Washington; exploring submerged landscapes to better understand the history of human occupation of the Americas; testing new autonomous underwater systems and capabilities to advance the protection of deep-sea coral ecosystems, map and characterize methane seeps over wide areas, and search for and survey shipwrecks; and searching for serpentinization-driven hydrothermal venting on the seafloor near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Also, a lab-based team used environmental DNA and deep-sea coral samples to better understand the biodiversity and locations of deep-sea coral communities in the remote tropical Pacific Ocean.

Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Student Explorations Around Southern California: Acoustics, Paleolandscapes, and Environments at Sea (SEASCAPES)
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Guam: A Biogeographic and Maritime Cultural Landscape Exploration of a World War II Amphibious Battlefield
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

In Search of Hydrothermal Lost Cities
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Exploring Deepwater World War II Battlefields in the Pacific Using Emerging Technologies
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Our Submerged Past: Exploring Inundated Late Pleistocene (10,600 — 17,000 years ago) Caves in Southeast Alaska with SUNFISH
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Characterizing Variability in Pacific Northwest Methane Seeps Using a Fleet of Small AUVs
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Field Validation of Novel Low-Cost Underwater Robot for Deepwater Exploration and Characterization
Retrieving a Porpoise From The EM

Early Encounters on a Western Frontier: The Search for Svyatoy Nikolai (1807-1808)
AUV Dory is deployed from R/V Storm for an autonomous shipwreck survey.

Machine Learning for Automated Detection of Shipwreck Sites from Large Area Robotic Surveys

Providing Access to Data

Digital and physical data collected during expeditions led or supported by NOAA Ocean Exploration are intended to spur future ocean exploration and research, support scientists seeking to better understand deep-ocean biological and geological features and processes, and inform management, protection, and use of the deep ocean and its resources.

A piece of orange coral on a rock surrounded by brittle stars being collected by the arm of the ROV.
A rock being collected by the arm of the ROV.
Bathymetric map of a submarine canyon overlain with a remotely operated vehicle dive track.

These data are publicly and freely available through national archives. We continue to work primarily with our partners at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (digital data, including video), the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (biological and environmental DNA samples), and the Marine and Geology Repository at Oregon State University (geological samples) to improve the timeliness, accessibility, and usability of our data products. This year, the NOAA Ocean Exploration Data Atlas became fully operational, replacing the OER Digital Atlas.

Inspiring the Public and Enhancing Ocean Science Literacy

In 2023, NOAA Ocean Exploration’s outreach and education activities focused on providing educators with the information and tools they need to generate interest in the ocean among their students, training the next generation of ocean explorers, and providing access to information about our work, ocean exploration, and the ocean in general.

Support for Educators

NOAA Ocean Exploration and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation awarded 30 grants totaling approximately $413,000, through two competitions, to help engage and inspire the next generation of ocean explorers. Rebranded in 2023, the Ocean Odyssey Grant Program invests in projects and partners that advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in ocean education and workforce development.

Winter 2023 Awards
Image courtesy of MidMichigan College.
Workshop participants around a small pool containing a remotely operated vehicle.
Image courtesy of Jason Goode, Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability.
A group of students and staff pose on the beach with a Black in Marine Science flag.
Image courtesy of Thompson Productions.
Image courtesy of Savannah State University.

This year, we focused our educational efforts on cold seeps, seafloor mapping, and ocean exploration technologies, developing educational products (lessons, fact sheets, and videos) and providing in-person and virtual professional development opportunities. In addition, we launched Deep-Ocean Bites, a collection of short videos featuring ocean science experts, and began the translation of our educational materials into Spanish.

Student Opportunities

Three explorers-in-training filter water samples for environmental DNA collection in the wet lab on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.
Three explorers-in-training in the control room on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.

Through student opportunities that provide real-world training, NOAA Ocean Exploration helps prepare the next generation of ocean explorers, scientists, engineers, and communicators for careers in ocean exploration. In 2023, we hosted 2 fellows through the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program and 18 interns through our Explorer-in-Training Program, the William M. Lapenta NOAA Student Internship Program, the Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship, and the José E. Serrano Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions. This year’s fellows and interns participated in mapping, outreach, communications, education, grants, policy, and data analysis activities — from ship and shore — contributing to all of our major mission areas.

Public Communication

Outreach Events

In 2023, NOAA Ocean Exploration demonstrated our commitment to building relationships with communities that have strong connections to the waters we explore. Specifically, we engaged Indigenous communities in Alaska, California, and Washington through various activities, including ship-to-shore live interactions, ship tours, and involvement in a culture camp. We also hosted tribal representatives while at sea on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.

A piece of orange coral on a rock surrounded by brittle stars being collected by the arm of the ROV.
A rock being collected by the arm of the ROV.
Bathymetric map of a submarine canyon overlain with a remotely operated vehicle dive track.

The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska invited NOAA Ocean Exploration to participate in Camp Qungaayux, a week-long camp that hands down Unangan (Aleut) knowledge and wisdom to younger generations of Unalaska. Our staff members shared ocean exploration activities and research highlights with over 70 campers and learned about Unangan culture and traditions. While in port in Kodiak, Alaska, we provided representatives from the tribe with a tour of Okeanos Explorer.

A woman in the control room on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.

In partnership with Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA Ocean Exploration invited local tribal members to help plan an expedition off the central California coast and educate local tribal communities about deep-ocean exploration. As part of this effort, Mia and Keli Lopez, members of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, joined us for part of the expedition on Okeanos Explorer. Mia conducted daily land acknowledgements, spoke with representatives from other local tribes over the livestream, and participated in a live interaction with attendees at an ocean-exploration focused community event organized by the NOAA partners.

Other Outreach Activities