The essays below will help you to understand the goals and objectives of the mission and provide additional context and information about the places being explored and the science, tools, and technologies being used.
By Kasey Cantwell and Michael White
From May 30 through July 12, 2019, NOAA and partners will conduct a two-part, telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about unknown and poorly understood deepwater areas of the southeastern United States.
Read moreBy Michael White
The first leg of the Windows to the Deep 2019 expedition, taking place from May 30 to June 14, will include 24-hour per day mapping operations on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer focused on high-priority areas identified by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NOAA, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the science community.
Read moreBy Kasey Cantwell, Amy Wagner, and Alexis Weinnig
From June 20 through July 12, NOAA and partners will conduct the second leg of the Windows to the Deep 2019 expedition, a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about unknown and poorly understood deepwater areas off the southeastern U.S. coast. During this expedition, our at-sea and shore-based science teams will work together to map the seafloor and observe many targeted sites for the first time.
Read moreBy Joseph Hoyt
There is perhaps no greater potential for archaeological discoveries in U.S. waters than along the Eastern Seaboard. This region has been host to human activity since before the Last Glacial Maximum, when the shoreline approximated what is now the continental shelf, the bottomlands themselves once homes, hunting grounds, and sacred places. The prospect of identifying indigenous sites in this area has long filled archaeologists and living native descendants with hope.
Read moreBy Amanda Demopoulos, Benthic Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Submarine canyons are found throughout the world, representing complex seafloor features that link the upper continental shelf to the abyssal plain. They punctuate the margin by incising the shelf, creating scenic seascapes reminiscent of their terrestrial counterparts.
Read moreBy Daniel Wagner
In 2016, NOAA launched a new four-year initiative to study deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems across the Southeast United States, a region that includes the U.S. federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic Bight, and Caribbean Sea. This multidisciplinary effort, known as the Southeast Deep Coral Initiative (SEDCI), is led by a NOAA team from multiple line offices that work in close collaboration with partners from federal and academic institutions. Funding for SEDCI activities is provided primarily by NOAA through the Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program.
Read moreBy Cheryl Morrison
During the Windows to the Deep 2019: Exploration of the Deep-sea Habitats of the Southeastern United States expedition, the mission team will try to explore at least one cold seep site near the North Carolina coast. Cold seeps occur where highly saline and hydrocarbon-rich fluids, such as methane and sulfides, escape from the seafloor at close to ambient temperatures.
Read more
