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.
August 25, 2026
Dive 01: Southern Seamount Crater
Today’s dive will explore the crater and rim of a seamount south of Rose Atoll. The dive will start on the floor of the crater at approximately 2,480 meters (1.5 miles) water depth and climb up to the southeast section of the ridge. Dive objectives include the collection of igneous rock samples to age the seamount, ferromanganese crust and/or nodules, water samples for environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, and biological samples.
- 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: 10:00 a.m. SST / 11:00 a.m. HST / 2:00 p.m. PDT / 6:00 p.m. EDT
- Estimated seafloor departure: 3:00 p.m. SST / 4:00 p.m. HST / 7:00 p.m. PDT / 10:00 p.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. Audio from both science participants and ROV pilots is available on Cameras 1 & 3.
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.