A sandy ocean floor densely scattered with thousands of small, dark, rounded rocks.
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Polymetallic Nodules
Polymetallic nodules covered the seafloor explored during the tenth dive of the 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration expedition. We saw the highest abundance of nodules during this dive out of any dive on the expedition thus far.
Credit

NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration