The expedition marks the third field season using NOAA’s 6,000-meter remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer and the Seirios camera sled and lighting platform on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. A pilot sampling program will be conducted during the July-to-September Hohonu Moana expedition to collect a limited number of geological and biological samples that are deemed to be of particular interest to expedition participants. All collected samples will be sent to an appropriate National repository for curation and on-site access.