NOAA Ocean Exploration and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation have awarded 12 grants to help engage and inspire the next generation of ocean explorers by supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts related to ocean literacy and workforce development. Dumbo octopuses are cephalopods with ear-like fins that make them resemble Disney's flying elephant. Dr. Diva Amon, marine biologist, researches the habitats and animals of the deep ocean, and how human activities impact them. That's the end goal of a new prototype device developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a wireless, battery-free underwater camera that runs on sound waves. Explosions from a sinking ship are among the unexpected sounds detected by 50 highly sensitive seismometers placed on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean as part of an international collaboration led by UCL researcher Professor Ana Ferreira. Dr. Next, dive. The approval was awarded to a French company iXblue for its vessel named DriX, an eight-meter Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) designed to assist with hydrographic and geophysical surveys, water column analysis, as well as subsea positioning operations. In July, I took part as a scientist in a commercial deep sea companys amazing dive to explore the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, over 12,000 feet beneath the North Atlantic. Before the perpetual dark of the deep sea, in the space at the final reaches of daylight, is the ocean twilight zone. Many will offer new insights into life on board at the time of sinking, hundreds or even thousands of years ago. For some of them, including the sand dollars beloved by beachcombers, this means their range is shrinking. Ocean exploration organizations Nekton and Schmidt Ocean Institute have entered into a new partnership to work collaboratively on expeditions and to advance public understanding of the ocean by engaging cultural sectors such as fashion, food, and sports. This month, Dr. Ashton Flinders, research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Surveys Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), will be co-leading a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration expedition to a section of the Atlantic Ocean floor. In 2016, the Plymouth community gathered and discussed how to memorialize the upcoming 400th anniversary of that Mayflowers journey. Newly released report identifies strategic priorities for ocean exploration and characterization to improve federal agencies understanding and knowledge of previously underexplored marine habitats and ecosystems. In the first half of 2022, Geoview won an ocean exploration project from Equinor, a Norwegian national energy company, for the first time as a Korean company. The ADCP, which measures the speed and direction of currents at various depths underneath the ship will support safe remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) operations and provide data for improving oceanographic current models. The Labrador Sea plays a vital role in supplying oxygen to deep-sea life across the world. Research vessels provide a critical platform for exploring the ocean. It is engaged in the discovery, validation, and development of subsea minerals deposits in a socially and environmentally . As the vehicle slowly moves through the depths of the Davidson Seamount off the coast of central California, a team of researchers observing everything remotely murmur in excitement as a giant corpse slowly comes into focus on the camera. One ocean milestone of note this year is that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Explorations marked its 20th year of discovery. We may not think about it often, but our lives draw and depend on the ocean. August 9, 2021|Marine Technology News. 2021 A recently discovered deep-sea jellyfish is leaving scientists stunned. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) in reintroducing the National Ocean Exploration Act. Robert Ballard, world-renowned pioneer in deep-ocean exploration, opens up as never before with a highly personal memoir "Into the Deep". Five years ago today, on September 15, 2016, President Obama designated the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries department has successfully completed a series of 21 expeditions over a span of several years to learn more about aquatic life. Whatever the cause of their increased size, whether the colder temperatures, the reduced pressures of predation or the increased scarcity of food in the ocean depths, animals such as crustaceans and cephalopods simply become bigger the deeper that they swim. Now scientists have used radar to probe the composition and depth of its largest sea, Kraken Mare, and estimated it to be at least 300 m (1,000 ft) deep. Like a clumsy jewelry thief, fluctuations in Earths climate over millions of years have left their fingerprints all over: in pollen records, ice cores, and ancient tree rings. A creepy video captured during a research dive off the coast of Florida shows a deep-sea creature feasting on the head of a fish. Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 146 new species to science in 2022. Start by imagining youre floating on the surface, basking in the sun of a hot day. Over the past year alone, Seabed 2030 has added measurements for around 3.8 million square miles (roughly the size of Europe) primarily through newly opened archives, rather than active mapping efforts. October 26, 2020|Marine Technology News. Packed inside a narrow ice-melting probe that would tunnel through the frozen crust, the tiny robots would be released underwater, swimming far from their mothercraft to take the measure of a new world. At seafloor methane seeps, it percolates upwards toward the open ocean, and microbial communities consume the majority of this methane before it reaches the atmosphere. It gives us oxygen and food and millions of jobs. These behemoths lived alongside squid-like ammonites encased in tightly-coiled shells and a slew of bizarre fish. March 23, 2021|Marine Technology News. Almost five years of studying the deep Atlantic in unprecedented detail has revealed 12 species new to science. Scientists estimate that we have classified as little as 9% of all marine life. AZoRobotics speaks with Peter Gunnarson from Caltech about his research into using artificial intelligence (AI) to teach autonomous drones to navigate the ocean using ocean currents. Remote sensing technology proves effective in monitoring key regions of the worlds oceans, where upwelling and other essential ecosystem services occur. In 1992, it was acquired by Diamond Offshore Drilling.. History. Exploration Vessel Nautilus has concluded its third expedition for this year. Contact Us 2019 First to tag a deep sea shark from a submersible. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will now launch to the jovian moon in October 2024, arriving in April 2030. This is a problem for calcifying organisms, such as corals and molluscs, that use calcium carbonate as the main building blocks of their exoskeleton. William Brangham reports. With little fanfare, President Trump in November declared the United States would "act boldly" on a gigantic task: mapping a chunk of ocean floor that's larger than the combined land area of all 50 states. All kinds of animals, from fish to crustaceans, hang out in the depths during the day, where the darkness provides protection from predators. NASA is planning a new crewed trip to the Moon, but theres somewhere almost equally mysterious here on Earth that scientists are working to learn more about: the deep ocean. Astrobiologists are now pursuing multiple interplanetary missions to learn whether any of these ocean-bearing moons actually possess more than mere waternamely, habitability, or the nuanced geochemical conditions required for life to arise and flourish. A new study led by the University of Vienna in which the Institut de Cincies del Mar (ICM-CSIC) has participated reveals that fishes living in the dark part of the oceans (essentially below 200 m depth in the water column) would likely decrease in size with climate warming, which may have important ecological effects. 22 Feb, 2023. Light from a remotely operated vehicle reveals a huge crowd of sea urchins, gathered in the dark roughly 1,350 feet below the surface, all wearing hats, made of debris, on the tops of their dome-like bodies, video captured near the U.S. Virgin Islands shows. While ocean crossings are nothing new for Saildrones autonomous surface vehicles, the Saildrone Surveyor is a new, much larger class of vehicle optimized for deep-ocean mapping. sponge has been classified as a new species and genus, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday as it announced the discovery. Expeditions to the depths of the oceans have revealed strange dark worlds bristling with species new to science now the race is on to discover them. The Saildrone Surveyor, a 14 ton vessel promoted as the worlds largest and most advanced autonomous ocean mapping drone, completes its trans-Pacific maiden voyage having sailed from San Francisco. A new study suggests that deep beneath the Earths crust, in a layer called the mantle, sizzling-hot rocks are rising up and pushing on tectonic plates those rocky jigsaw pieces that form Earth's crust that meet beneath the Atlantic. No. In 2020, Odyssey Marine Exploration faced a rocky financial situation and was almost delisted from the Nasdaq stock index market. The Titanic is disappearing. This years theme, Explorers of the Deep, focuses on ocean exploration, marine science, and the impact of climate change on our oceans. The researchers have called their vast listening experiment: The year of the quiet ocean. 2019 First to tag a deep sea shark from a submersible. Shrimp-like Cystisoma are protected from predators by being virtually invisible thanks to unique retina and a body that casts almost no shadow. The message was received by the Titanic -- which was advertised as unsinkable -- but did not reach the main control center of the vessel. coast using cutting-edge technology that opened a new window into the lives of these charismatic creatures. Special equipment is required to visit these extreme depths, which is why less than 5% of this area has been explored and charted. CNOOC Limited has appointed Xu Keqiang, Executive Director and President of the company, as the CEO effective from November 19. Happy Birthday to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts! The contractors are a mix of corporate enterprises and state-owned companies, with several governments keen to establish the . Two University of Wyoming researchers are part of the first-ever mapping of magnetic stripesone of the foundations of plate tectonicswithin the lower gabbroic section of fast-spreading oceanic crust. An expedition by the drilling program IODP (International Ocean Discovery Program) in 2016 has provided new insights into the temperature limits of life beneath the ocean floor. Late one night, after scanning a long stretch of empty seafloor, Hercules spotlight and camera revealed a parade of curious creatures. Nearly every time humans go into the deep sea, we discover new species. This idea has been repeated for decades by scientists and science communicators, including Sir David Attenborough in the 2001 documentary series The Blue Planet. The more recent advancements in space exploration have greatly expanded the field of . "The Andrea Doria stands out as the premier shipwreck in American waters," Stockton Rush, co-founder and chief executive of a Washington state-based ocean exploration company known . The future is deep and Odyssey Marine Exploration knows how to get there. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is the world's independent leader in ocean discovery, exploration, and education, working to understand and sustain one of humanity's most precious common . Then 100 meters. To monitor the change, a global fleet of about 4,000 devices called Argo floats is collecting temperature data from the oceans upper 2,000 meters. As greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet, the ocean is absorbing vast amounts of that heat. On Earth, the oceans teem with life, but is the same scenario possible on these frosty moons? It helps regulate the climate, supports millions of jobs, and serves as a place for exploration, commerce, and recreation. Which countries are exploring their offshore territory, and how much of the ocean floor still remains a mystery to us? For the details, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the chief of NOAAs expedition and exploration division, Rachel Medley. That's why artificial intelligence is being studied at Oregon State University's College of Engineering as a way to give robots the ability to . Oil companies are among the world's largest companies due to the importance of oil for heating, fuel and the petrochemical industry. It's home to many protected and threatened species, including sperm whales, corals and sea turtles, and is important for fisheries, recreational diving, whale watching and birding, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The two parties will work together to further our understanding of ocean bathymetry and contribute to the global effort to produce the definitive map of the ocean floor, complementing the goals of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. February 2, 2023|Smithsonian Magazine. This button displays the currently selected search type. A single drop of seawater holds millions of phytoplankton, a mix of algae, bacteria, and protocellular creatures. A team of 20 scientists from the Australian Antarctic Program left Hobart, Tasmania, today to spend two months working in the Southern Ocean off East Antarctica aboard the research vessel Investigatorone of the few research missions over the past year that havent been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hidden scars left on the landscape during ice ages thousands to millions of years ago have now been imaged in spectacular detail. he worlds deepest diving three-person acrylic submersible was officially named Aurelia at the end of April 2022 and will soon go through sea trials as it gets prepared for its first missions. Due to limited research, scientists aren't sure exactly how much carbon is captured and storedor sequesteredby the ocean each year or how increasing CO2 emissions will affect this process in the future. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and partners discovered Industry, a two-masted, 64-foot wooden brig on February 25 off the coast of Pascagoula, Mississippi. There are more than 9,000 species of marine sponges (Phylum Porifera) worldwide, which are a source of novel natural products. Planet Ocean: Why Is The Blue Economy So Important? It wasnt a spout from humpback whales that power through this scenic fjord, or a sea otter lazing on its back, munching a king crab. So just how long can sharks live, and what's the oldest shark on record? Drawn from hours of never-before-seen footage, Bob Ballard: An Explorers Life will air July 18 at 7pm on National Geographic. A first for NOAA Ocean Exploration and the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration, this test of piloting an ROV from shore opens new possibilities for deep-ocean exploration. Therefore, most of the world's biosphere is a deep ocean environment, where it's pitch black, the temperature is just above freezing, and it's subject to crushing pressures. The ship's gold that is thought to remain on the ocean floor was valued at $760,000 in 1857 but worth millions today, according to Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc, a Tampa, Florida-based company . On June 21 (that's World Hydrography Day, in case you forgot to update your Calendar of Very Nerdy Events), a group of international researchers announced that they are about one-fifth of the way to that goal, having mapped 20.6% of Earth's total underwater area using modern sonar techniques, according to a statement. Advertisement. The mysterious happenings have conjured stories of supernatural interference, alien kidnappings and an area somehow outside the normal bounds of physical reality. April 21, 2020|Marine Technology News. The history of deep sea exploration begins relatively recently, mainly because advanced technology is needed to explore the depths. That was the case for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Inner Space Center (ISC) is a one-of-a-kind national facility that supports live ocean exploration via telepresence technology. The seabed survey and ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity announced that its vessel, Seabed Constructor, sets sail from Cape Town to begin the search for the lost South Korean ship, Stellar Daisy. In this article, James Carey, head of operational delivery at the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), outlines five reasons why better mapping could help us to understand the basics of our ocean ecosystem and help us protect it and one reason why mapping could compromise our environment. The multinational team broke records and collected samples in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. What would you do if you came face-to-face with a deep-sea lizardfish? Dr. Widder is an MTS member, MacArthur Fellow, a deep-sea explorer, and conservationist who combines expertise in oceanographic research and technological innovation with a commitment to reversing the worldwide trend of marine ecosystem degradation. The key locations where the seafloor bottoms out in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans were mapped by the Five Deeps Expedition. Humanity now has another batch of (very) distant cousins including a few who live nearby. Disclaimer While the surfaces of these vast bodies of water have absorbed the vast majority of human-induced warming, as sea water circulates, the worrisome changes are slowly making their way downward. Woodside Petroleum. There is an abundance of weird and wonderful life in the depths of the sea and The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales is an excellent introduction to it. Waves, earthquakes and calving icebergs all contribute to the underwater soundscape. It all started when we decided that we wanted to try to send a solar . Dont flinch if you dont see anyone on board. And right next to it, a pink sea star a doppelganger for Patrick, SpongeBob's dim-witted best friend. For my Ph.D. research, I dropped 1.5 miles in the Alvin submersible above the East Pacific Rise, southwest of Acapulco. Even the very contours of this world are still unmapped: We probably know more about the surface of Mars than we know about the ocean floor. We urgently need a deep-sea mining moratorium to thoughtfully assess the full impact before a new crisis is created. Teams with ocean exploration non-profit OceanX initially made the discovery in 2020 during an expedition in the Neom region of the northern Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. CN Strategic Programs team helps pioneer deepwater exploration guide, Mysterious deep "blue hole" off Florida's coast sparks search for signs of life, Scientists Set to Explore a Deep 'Blue Hole' at the Bottom of the Ocean, Ambitious designs for underwater 'space station' and habitat unveiled, German U-boat that sank during World War II spotted in incredible underwater pictures, HMS Challenger: The voyage that birthed oceanography, 11 Deeply Interesting Facts About Our Oceans, Scientists Unlock the Secret to Ultra-Black Skin of Deep-Sea Fish, Depth star: Gruesome-looking 'Darth Vader' sea cockroach discovered at the bottom of the Indian Ocean is identified as a new species, Divers explore Huron Bay for evidence of ancient mining civilizations, Alien-like creature resembling E.T. One of the most common ways that scientists study the effects of future climate change is to look into the past. The Monterey Bay Aquatic Research Institute (MBARI) recently tweeted deep sea archival footage of a jellyfish with its stomach filled with food. Much deep-sea fauna is still unknown and is yet to be discovered by scientists. The University of Rhode Islands Graduate School of Oceanography is holding a national competition to select a name for a new National Science Foundation-owned Regional Class Research Vessel which will homeport at the URI Narragansett Bay Campus. Which means any navigation done must be handled by a human. Wiener would rise before daybreak to observe Hawaiian spinner dolphins as part of her dissertation on human-dolphin interactionresearch that played a role in providing stronger protection for spinner dolphins. Terrain-relative navigation helped Perseverance land and Ingenuity fly autonomously on Mars. In this seemingly isolated abyss, at deeper than 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) below sea level, scientists were able to coax a massive swarm of 115 cutthroat eels (Ilyophis arx) out of the shadows and into the light, and with only a relatively small package of bait. As such, it is exciting, baffling, and awe-inspiring for the scientific community when curious new creatures appear and are caught on camera. Sweat beaded across the foreheads of the scientists as they high-fived one another, exhausted from both the hard work and the Bahamian sun. Scientists can now reveal the size of the rest of the megalodons body, including its huge fins. You're going to hear a lot more about ocean mapping in the coming years. Flights routed above the waters blink from radar screens, never to be seen again. Whatever the back story, its safe to say 2021 was, to put it politely, interesting in the extreme. Based on evidence surveyed, participating scientists are reasonably certain that it is SS Bloody Marsh, NOAA Ocean Exploration reported Thursday. October 26, 2021|Oregon Public Broadcasting. But extraterrestrial necessity may also be the mother of fruitful invention when it comes to probing the alien worlds beneath the terrestrial waves, says Kevin Peter Hand. 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