EXPRESS: West Coast Exploration (EX2208, EX2301, EX2308, EX2309)

October 2022 - December 2023

From October 2022 through December 2023, NOAA Ocean Exploration and partners will conduct a series of five telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expeditions on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to improve knowledge about unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas of the U.S. West Coast from Southern California to Washington.

Data collected during this series of expeditions will establish a baseline in targeted areas to catalyze further exploration and research and support management activities. Data will also contribute to EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS), a multiyear, multipartner cooperative research campaign in deepwater areas of California, Oregon, and Washington to guide wise use of living marine resources and habitats, inform ocean energy and mineral resource decisions, and improve offshore hazard assessments.

During this series of expeditions, live video and data from remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives and multibeam sonar mapping operations will be shared in real time with shore-based participants and the public. Planned expedition dates, numbers and names, operational modes, and ports of call are as follows:

October 16 - November 3, 2022: EX2208: EXPRESS: West Coast Mapping 2022 / San Diego, California to Newport, Oregon

April 13 - 27, 2023: EX2301: 2023 Shakedown + EXPRESS: West Coast Exploration (ROV and Mapping) / Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington

October 21 - November 10, 2023: EX2308: 2023 EXPRESS: Exploration of Central California Coast (AUV and Mapping) / San Francisco, California to San Francisco, California

November 30 - December 8, 2023: EX2309: 2023 EXPRESS: West Coast Exploration (AUV and Mapping) / San Francisco, California to San Francisco, California

Education Themes

Education theme pages provide the best of what the NOAA Ocean Exploration website has to offer to support educators in the classroom during this expedition. Each theme page includes expedition features, lessons, multimedia, career information, and associated past expeditions.

Media Resources

The Media Resources page provides members of the media with information, resources, and multimedia developed in association with the EXPRESS: West Coast Exploration series of expeditions.

Media Contacts

Emily Crum

Communication Specialist
NOAA Ocean Exploration
ocean-explore-comms@noaa.gov

Keeley Belva

Public Affairs Officer
NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations
keeley.belva@noaa.gov

NOAA Ocean Exploration’s EXPRESS: West Coast Mapping expeditions will contribute to the National Strategy for Exploring, Mapping, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, Seabed 2030 and the interagency EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) campaign.

Data collected during the expedition will be available in NOAA’s public data archives within 60-90 days of its completion and will be accessible via the NOAA Ocean Exploration Data Atlas.