News

At the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, women are an integral part of the work being accomplished every single day. But today, February 11, we are taking a moment to reflect on contributions women members of the OER team have made to our mission to explore the ocean by sharing just a few web highlights from over the years.

The largest aggregation of fishes ever recorded in the abyssal deep sea was discovered by a team of oceanographers from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and the National Oceanography Centre during the 2018 “Deep CZZ” expedition funded by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the University of Hawaii. Their findings were published recently in Deep-Sea Research.

The comb jellies were recorded two and a half miles below sea level using NOAA's Deep Discoverer remotely operated vehicle.

Given the vastness of our ocean, discoveries made while exploring the deep sea aren’t unusual, but they’re always exciting. Among recent discoveries are three previously unknown species of black coral.

The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research has released the NOAA OER Deepwater Exploration Mapping Procedures Manual to describe the office’s approach to deepwater ocean exploration acoustic mapping.

As part of the Fiscal Year 2020 Federal Funding Opportunity, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research selected 5 projects to receive financial support.

Three seamounts in the Pacific Ocean now bear names honoring the contributions to science made by NOAA and its partners in ocean exploration during a campaign led by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

Here at the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, one of the most rewarding aspects of our mission is encouraging and supporting the next generation of ocean explorers. Learn more about this year’s interns and the programs that supported them.

Just over a year ago, using ROV Deep Discoverer and the telepresence capabilities of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, researchers essentially 'stumbled' upon a rare and incredible scene filled with deep-sea predators.

In a newly published paper, scientists have identified and named a new genus and species of sponge: Advhena magnifica. This new sponge was sampled and seen during missions in the Pacific on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Read on to learn more about the discovery of this magnificent alien.

While deep-ocean exploration is responsible for ground-breaking discoveries, it is also unmasking the true scale of our impacts in the deep ocean. Marine debris is a growing problem and a new study has shown that even unexplored, remote, and protected areas of the central and western Pacific deep ocean are not immune from our touch.

In 2005, the United Nations adopted a resolution to recognize June 21 as World Hydrography Day, calling attention to the vital information that hydrography provides. But what is hydrography?

The federal government recently announced the release of strategies and recommendations to fully map, explore, and characterize the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Sea stars play an important role in deep-sea ecosystems, especially as predators of sponges and corals (mostly octocorals).