NOAA Exploration Offices

Because ocean exploration is multidisciplinary and encompasses many aspects of NOAA’s mission, this initial collection only offers the main NOAA programs and offices that are currently or have in the past been engaged in ocean exploration activities. In some cases, ocean exploration is only a small part of the offices' mission.

Each entry provides the name of the NOAA office, website address, and description of the program or office.

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NOAA Ocean Exploration NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program NOAA Research Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

NOAA Ocean Exploration is dedicated to exploring the unknown ocean, unlocking its potential through scientific discovery, technological advancements, and data delivery. By working closely with partners across public, private, and academic sectors, we are filling gaps in our basic understanding of the marine environment. This allows us, collectively, to protect ocean health, sustainably manage our marine resources, accelerate our national economy, better understand our changing environment, and enhance appreciation of the importance of the ocean in our everyday lives.

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a network of underwater parks encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters. The network includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments.

NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (Program) was established in 2007 under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It is the nation’s only federal research program dedicated to increasing scientific understanding of deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems. The Program leverages partner expertise and resources to expand its reach and allow use of the newest technologies. These actions enhance the impact of NOAA’s deep-sea exploration and research efforts.

NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) is a federal laboratory that makes critical observations and conducts groundbreaking research to advance our knowledge of the global ocean and its interactions with the earth, atmosphere, ecosystems, and climate. These observations are used to improve weather and climate predictions, fisheries management and coastal resilience.

Earth-Ocean Interactions

Discovering, measuring, understanding, and predicting ecological impacts of natural chemical, biological, and geological processes between the solid Earth and Ocean. PMEL's Earth-Ocean Interactions Program contributes to NOAA’s objective of achieving a holistic understanding of marine ecosystems by exploration and research on hydrothermal vents, their impacts on the global ocean, and their unique chemosynthetic biological communities. This includes ecosystem characterization, resource assessment, environmental observation, and technology development.

Acoustic Monitoring

PMEL's Acoustics program develops unique acoustics tools and technologies to support the mission of NOAA as well as other federal agencies, academic institutions and international partners. The program's primary goals are [a] to acquire long-term data sets of the global ocean acoustics environment, and [b] to identify and assess acoustic impacts from human activities and natural processes on the marine environment.