Status: 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration
From August 20 to September 17, NOAA Ocean Exploration and partners will conduct the 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to explore deep waters in and around American Samoa. This expedition will include remotely operated vehicle dives to explore the seafloor and water column, overnight mapping operations, and continuous shore-side participation via telepresence technology.
Throughout the expedition, video will be streamed online in real time from approximately 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. SST / 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. EDT, August 23-September 12 (subject to change). During dives, we expect to explore abyssal seafloor features, deep-sea coral and sponge habitats, seamounts, marine critical minerals, and the water column of American Samoa.
September 11, 2026
Dive 12: South Samoa Basin Seamount
Today is the last dive of the 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration expedition. The dive will take place on a seamount south of Muliāva (Rose Atoll) and will mark the first-ever exploration of this seamount. Plans are to start the dive on the northeast flank of the seamount at a depth of 3,400 meters (2.1 miles) and transit toward the crater feature following a 4 to 10-degree slope. The main objectives of this dive are to characterize the seamount substrate and habitat through the collection of volcanic rocks, ferromanganese crust, push cores, any other interesting rocks encountered, and new or characteristic biological species.
- Estimated vehicle launch: 8:30 a.m. SST / 9:30 a.m. HST / 12:30 p.m. PDT / 3:30 p.m. EDT
- Estimated seafloor arrival: 10:30 a.m. SST / 11:30 a.m. HST / 2:30 p.m. PDT / 5:30 p.m. EDT
- Estimated seafloor departure: 6:30 p.m. SST / 7:30 p.m. HST / 10:30 p.m. PDT / 1:30 a.m. EDT
*Plans and times subject to change
What Are You Seeing?
When Okeanos Explorer is underway on an expedition, this page will broadcast streams from the ship. What is being shown on the different video streams may change depending on the exploration and operations at hand.
Note that occasionally on the feeds, you will see two red dots; these laser points are 10 centimeters (almost four inches) apart and are used by scientists to determine the sizes of things that they are seeing.
All views and opinions expressed in this video feed are those of the speaker and are not attributable to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or other federal agency.
What Are You Hearing?
Audio is only available during dives, when the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are in the water. On all 3 streams, audio from science participants is available on the right audio channel, while audio from the ROV pilots is available on the left audio channel.
All views and opinions expressed in this video feed are those of the speaker and are not attributable to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or other federal agency.