2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamounts
Past Expedition
Overview
From June 30 through July 29, 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration and partners conducted the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamounts expedition, a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about unknown and poorly understood deepwater areas off the eastern U.S. coast and high seas.
Features
Features provide a deeper dive into expedition-related topics.
Mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations yielded observations of numerous potential new species and new animal behaviors, geological samples to expand our understanding of ferromanganese crusts, data on 20 seamounts that had never been mapped before, and the engagement of audiences around the world.
September 20, 2021
During the recent 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, scientists discovered large fields of charismatic round rocks identified as ferromanganese nodules on two different regions of Gosnold Seamount. But what is a nodule?
August 26, 2021
During Dive 11 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expeditions, scientists observed this sea star, Sthenaster emmae, feeding on a whip coral in the genus Calyptophora at a depth of 1,219 meters (4,000 feet).
August 4, 2021
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During the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, I participated as a scientist from shore with NOAA Ocean Exploration as part of my Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program internship this summer. This included participating through the science teleconference line and chat room.
August 4, 2021
Video of a yellow sponge (genus Hertwigia) and pink sea star (genus Chondraster) collected during Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Images of the pair have captured the attention of the public and the media due to their resemblance to the cartoon characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star.
August 3, 2021
Using the mapping tools on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, data are collected to produce high-resolution bathymetric maps of the seafloor similar to topographic maps common for areas on land, but under water, to measure layers and currents in the water column, and to look below the seafloor to see what is hidden, even from the cameras of remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer.
July 30, 2021
At NOAA Ocean Exploration, a core part of our mission is engaging the next generation of ocean explorers through internships. As we celebrate National Intern Day 2021, get to know some of this year’s interns!
July 29, 2021
You likely know that during remotely operated vehicle (ROV) expeditions there are two main operations occurring, generally ROV dives during the day and mapping the seafloor overnight. But did you know that these operations are strongly linked?
July 28, 2021
The data collected from NOAA’s deep-sea exploration and research efforts improve our scientific understanding of the diversity and distribution of deep-sea coral communities. It will also aid resource managers in developing and evaluating management options for these valuable habitats—on which U.S. fisheries and communities depend.
July 28, 2021
As a geologist, I had written off working from home a long time ago, as most of my work depended on data collection in the field. 2020 really threw this dedicated and resilient team a challenge, and the solution to it was cloud-based mapping.
July 27, 2021
A mere 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, lies the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. One of just five marine national monuments — and the only one off the U.S. mainland — it protects an area of open ocean roughly the size of Connecticut.
July 26, 2021
In addition to high-definition video data and environmental parameters such as water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, location, and depth, remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer collects highly valuable biological and geological specimen samples. Managing these physical samples from the depths of our ocean is high-priority work.
July 22, 2021
Belonging to the ctenophore order Lobata, family Lampoctenidae, this animal was initially identified as being the bloody belly ctenophore, though emerging research suggests that this yellow ctenophore might be a new and different red-belly ctenophore species.
July 21, 2021
“Oreo” is a common name for a group of deep-sea fishes in the family Oreostomatidae. Most species are found in the Southern Ocean on continental slopes and seamounts. Their body form and behavior suggest they could be at home on any shallow tropical coral reef.
July 20, 2021
First impressions are often speculative and are not necessarily the final answer. My first guesses at identification of an interesting squid and a cool octopod were (1) probably wrong and (2) definitely wrong. Not too far off, but not a bullseye either.
July 19, 2021
As we transition to our next set of dive sites on the New England Seamounts (mapping along the way, of course!), we asked our expedition team leads what was most interesting, most surprising, or aspect from which they learned the most during our eight dives on the Corner Rise Seamounts.
July 16, 2021
Cerianthid or tube anemones, belonging to the subclass Ceriantharia, are rather distant relatives of sea anemones. All tube anemones have a quite uniform appearance, with an elongated body and two crowns of non-branched tentacles.
July 14, 2021
We talk about seamount chains being stepping stones for organisms, about finding the same species along these chains and about the often-dense communities of deep-sea corals and sponges that live there. But how does that happen, when these animals can’t swim?
July 8, 2021
The Sargasso Sea is a distinctive ecosystem located on the high seas. Its boundaries are defined by currents circulating the North Atlantic sub-tropical gyre, including the Gulf Stream and the Antilles Current. The Sargasso Sea is named for the floating sargassum that populates its surface – a kind of macroalgae that is designed for a pelagic (open ocean) existence, never attaching to the bottom at any point in its life cycle.
July 3, 2021
While most of our dives during this expedition will occur on seamounts that NOAA Ocean Exploration has not explored yet via NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, we will be revisiting a few familiar seamounts within the New England Seamount chain from dives in 2014 and 2019.
June 30, 2021
From June 30 through July 29, 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration and partners will conduct the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamounts expedition, a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about unknown and poorly understood deepwater areas off the eastern U.S. coast and high seas.
June 23, 2021
Some seamounts form long chains as the continental shelf glided over a hotspot in the Earth’s crust, creating seamounts one after another in a long succession stretching back over 100 million years. These seamount chains can form what we call “stepping stones” across the seafloor—areas of habitat that are suitable for a wide variety of species to settle, colonize, and live.
June 23, 2021
The New England and Corner Rise seamount chains comprise a line of extinct submarine volcanoes that extend from near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the eastern continental margin of the United States.
June 23, 2021
Multimedia
The images and videos from this expedition add context and help bring the expedition to life. Click on a preview image below to view the full image/watch a video and get more information.
Dive Summary Map
The map below shows the location of dives during the expedition. Click on a dive number to access the update from that day.
Education
Ocean Science for Educators provides the best of what the NOAA Ocean Exploration website has to offer to support educators in the classroom. Each theme page includes lessons, fact sheets, ocean facts, exploration notes, multimedia, and related past expeditions and projects. Below are the top education themes related to this expedition.
Team
Each team member’s path to this expedition is unique. Read their bios to find out what makes them ocean explorers.
Geology Science Co-lead, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey (on shore)
Geology Science Co-lead, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey (on shore)
Biology Science Lead, Associate Professor, University of Maine
Expedition Coordinator, NOAA Office Exploration
Expedition Coordinator in Training, NOAA Ocean Exploration
Mapping Lead, NOAA Ocean Exploration
Resources & Contacts
Media Contacts
- NOAA Ocean Exploration
Emily Crum
Communications Specialist
Email Address: emily.crum@noaa.gov - NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations
David Hall
Public Affairs Officer
Email Address: david.l.hall@noaa.gov