Windows to the Deep 2021: Southeast U.S. ROV and Mapping
October 26 - November 15, 2021
Expedition Features
From October 26 to November 15, NOAA Ocean Exploration and partners will conduct a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. The Windows to the Deep 2021: Southeast ROV and Mapping expedition will collect critical information about unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas of the Blake Plateau region of the North Atlantic Ocean. This foundational information will encourage further exploration and research and inform resource management decisions and activities in the region. View Expedition Plan
Expedition Summary
January 24, 2022
During this expedition, we mapped and explored a variety of habitats and features in areas along the Southeast U.S. continental margin identified by the ocean management and scientific communities. Findings from this expedition build on our previous expeditions in the region. Collectively, these expeditions have contributed greatly to what we now know about environments along the southeastern edge of our continent.
Read moreNOAA Ocean Exploration Meets Major Mapping Milestone on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
November 15, 2021
Two million square kilometers. Or 772,204 square miles. That’s more than one quarter the size of the contiguous United States. And it’s the area of seafloor mapped by NOAA Ocean Exploration using the modern, high-resolution multibeam sonar system aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer since the ship was commissioned in 2008.
Read moreBigfin Squid
November 12, 2021
It’s not every dive that deep-sea explorers encounter a bigfin squid (Magnapinna sp.). It’s actually pretty unusual; roughly a dozen sightings have been confirmed worldwide. So, when we captured an adult bigfin squid on camera during Dive 10 of Windows to the Deep 2021 off the West Florida Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico, it was quite an exciting moment.
Read moreWhat Are Sclerites?
November 10, 2021
Sclerites are part of the microskeleton of an octocoral that provides support and protection. Because they are so varied in shape, size, and abundance in the tissue, they are used by taxonomists to help sort out the diversity of octocoral species.
Read moreDiscovery of SS Bloody Marsh
November 1, 2021
On October 28, 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration discovered the likely wreck of SS Bloody Marsh, an oil tanker sunk off the coast of South Carolina by a German U-boat in 1943.
Read moreWhat is Vertical Migration of Zooplankton and Why Does it Matter?
October 28, 2021
Every day, billions and billions of animals, mostly zooplankton (e.g., smallish animals, including fish, various shrimp, and jellies), migrate up and down in the ocean all over the planet. That’s a lot of movement. Scientists call it diel vertical migration, or DVM for short. But why does it happen?
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