2026 American Samoa Mapping + Transit
Upcoming
Overview
Beginning on September 24, NOAA Ocean Exploration will spend several days mapping unexplored deepwater regions near American Samoa. The ship team will then transit northeast to Honolulu, bringing NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer into position for her next mission.
After completing the 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will depart from Fiji and return to American Samoa for further mapping. After finishing that work, the team will continue opportunistic mapping while sailing 4,200 kilometers (2,600 miles) northeast to Okeanos Explorer’s next port call in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. During the expedition, the team will also deploy tools like expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) used to collect ocean temperature data.
This expedition builds on a NOAA-funded contract project to map and characterize over 30,000 square nautical miles of federal waters around American Samoa. Once the expedition is finished, all data collected will be made publicly available in NOAA data archives. This open, data-driven approach is designed to provide authoritative science for decision-makers at federal and local levels. Exploration data is made public as soon as it is processed, which occurs within 120 days of the end of an expedition.
This map shows the planned area of operations for the 2026 American Samoa Mapping + Transit cruise. Map courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2026 American Samoa Mapping + Transit. Download largest version (jpg, 826 KB).
Education
Ocean Science for Educators provides the best of what the NOAA Ocean Exploration website has to offer to support educators in the classroom. Each theme page includes lessons, fact sheets, ocean facts, exploration notes, multimedia, and related past expeditions and projects. Below are the top education themes related to this expedition.
Team
Each team member’s path to this expedition is unique. Read their bios to find out what makes them ocean explorers.
Data
Data collected during expeditions on Okeanos Explorer are submitted to NOAA’s public data archives within 120 days of completion. Once archived, they are accessible via the NOAA Ocean Exploration Data Atlas.
Data from the 2026 Pacific Islands Mapping expedition contribute to the National Strategy for Exploring, Mapping, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and Seabed 2030.
Resources & 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 - Media Kit