This page contains an archive of stories regarding NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research accomplishments and announcements; for more recent stories, visit this page.
November 30, 2016
On November 30, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) launched the new OER Video Portal – a self-service web portal allowing anyone to access video segments and highlights recorded onboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer during expeditions conducted from 2010 through 2016. Portal users can search for, discover, preview, and/or directly download low-resolution video files and place orders for full-resolution video files.
Read moreOctober 13, 2016
XPRIZE announced today a total of 32 teams exit icon from 22 countries will compete to win the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE exit icon. The three-year global competition, announced in December 2015 exit icon, challenges teams to advance technologies for rapid, unmanned, and high-resolution ocean exploration and discovery.
Read moreMay 25, 2016
This week, the scientific journal Marine Biodiversity published a study describing the largest sponge known in the world exit icon, found at a depth of 7,000 feet within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The sponge was close to 12 feet long and 7 feet wide, comparable in size to a minivan.
Read moreApril 18, 2016
On a recent research expedition in Alaska, scientists aboard the R/V Norseman II conducted the first-ever deepwater exploration of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Using both surveys by scuba divers and the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Kraken2, scientists found an abundance of cold-water corals and associated organisms that use these corals as habitat, from the very bottom to the top of the submerged portion of the fjords.
Read moreMarch 30, 2016
On March 22, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research launched the new Benthic Deepwater Animal Identification Guide – a collection of in situ images created from video frame grabs taken from Deep Discoverer (D2) remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video.
Read moreDecember 14, 2015
Today at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Dr. Richard Spinrad, NOAA’s chief scientist, joined Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of XPRIZE, and David Schewitz, Shell vice president of geophysics for the Americas, on stage to announce the launch of the $7 Million Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE.
Read moreJune 23, 2015
From July 8 to 21, an expedition on the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Healy will use cutting-edge technology to help scientists understand how the Arctic is changing and what the implications of those changes may be.
Read moreJune 16, 2015
For the second year in a row, several NOAA offices and laboratories from three different Line Offices, including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the National Ocean Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, will be participating in International Ocean Sampling Day on June 21.
Read moreJune 2, 2015
NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is participating in an international expedition, taking place June 1-8 on Ireland's Celtic Explorer, to map the northern Atlantic from St. John, Newfoundland, to Galway, Ireland.
Read moreMay 27, 2015
A new video, "Pathways to the Abyss," showcases a five-year project to explore and study the deepwater habitats of the massive Atlantic Canyons, 100 miles offshore of Virginia and Maryland.
Read moreMay 11, 2015
From March 2 to 20, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, and Boeing conducted an expedition to survey the wreck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Independence as part of a mission to locate and document historic shipwrecks in Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and nearby waters.
Read moreDecember 15, 2014
Upon request from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), Dr. Martha Nizinski, National Marine Fisheries Service Zoologist, presented relevant results from NOAA’s multi-year campaign in the Northeast Atlantic Canyons to Council members and the public on December 12. The request follows from a MAFMC decision to consider mechanisms to protect deep coral habitats in offshore canyons.
Read moreNovember 19, 2014
The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is teaming up with the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and Integrated Ocean Observing System, as well as the J.C. Venter Institute and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to enhance ecosystem observation programs by integrating genome-enabled techniques and technologies (i.e., ‘omics) into the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations.
Read moreOctober 15, 2014
Our fragile coastal and marine ecosystems face increasing threats from human activities, climate change, and other factors. To mitigate and adapt to such threats, we need a fuller, more integrated picture of how the biodiversity within these ecosystems may be changing, especially since marine biodiversity is a key indicator of ocean health and critical to sustaining natural resources such as fisheries.
Read moreOctober 3, 2014
From September 25 to October 9, investigators from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are being funded by NOAA’s Ocean Exploration and Research Program to help conduct the first-ever in situ chemical and stable isotopic exploration of two unique seafloor sites in the Caribbean (the Kick ‘Em Jenny Seamount and Barbados Mud Volcanos).
Read moreSeptember 9, 2014
From September 10-16, the City of Baltimore is coming together for the Star-Spangled Spectacular, to celebrate maritime history and commemorate Maryland’s contributions to the defense and heritage of the nation, including the birth of our national anthem.
Read moreAugust 24, 2014
More than 500 methane cold seeps have been discovered along the Atlantic Ocean margin of the United States, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience. The discovery of these gas seeps suggests that natural methane leakage from the seafloor is far more widespread than previously thought.
Read moreAugust 20, 2014
A notable discovery has come out of the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Task Force mapping efforts in an area of the Pacific Ocean that is one of the least explored of the Earth's oceans.
Read moreAugust 5, 2014
NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is part of a major cooperative expedition to Pulley Ridge, off the southwest coast of Florida, to study how the mesophotic coral ecosystems of the Pulley Ridge connect with the downstream coral reef ecosystems of the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas. The upcoming part of the expedition is taking place on the R/V F.G. Walton Smith from Aug. 14-28, with 12 scientists and technicians.
Read moreJuly 31, 2014
Life at sea is hard – not just on people, but also on equipment and vessels. After completing her work in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer pulled into port in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, at the end of May for some much-deserved TLC.
Read moreJuly 30, 2014
Drs. Chris German and Jeff Seewald, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, are participating in a multi-national expedition to study carbon dioxide hydrothermal venting on the Gakkel Ridge, in the Arctic Ocean.
Read moreJuly 16, 2014
As climate change continues, scientists are in a race to predict the ways it will affect the natural environment. By understanding climate change, they hope to anticipate issues related to food supply, habitat management, and natural resources.
Read moreJuly 9, 2014
The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is funding an upcoming expedition to look for the “Lost French Fleet,” four French Hugenot ships that sank in 1562, off the coast of Florida, after a sudden storm. The expedition will take place between July 14 and August 18, 2014.
Read moreDecember 12, 2013
NOAA and university scientists, using data from two ocean expeditions across the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, found that tiny pieces of plastic (micro-plastic) were widespread, but the abundance and density varied both vertically in the water column and horizontally.
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