Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.
March 7 – 29, 2017
The Discovering the Deep: Exploring Remote Pacific Marine Protected Areas was a 23-day telepresence-enabled expedition to collect baseline information about deepwater areas in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, American Samoa, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area , and the waters around New Zealand's Territory of Tokelau. Major accomplishments from this expedition are summarized here.
Read moreMarch 27, 2017 | By Adrienne Copeland
You might not know these women, but you know their work. To further celebrate National Women’s History Month on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, I had the opportunity to sit down with the three (female) videographers on the Discovering the Deep: Exploring Remote Pacific Marine Protected Areas expedition.
Read moreMarch 24, 2017 | By Dr. Christopher Mah
Sea stars are among some of the most ecologically important of marine invertebrates. Some are predators while others are scavengers, but they aren’t known for their rapid movements. So what behavior/structural features have evolved to keep them from being devoured?
Read moreMarch 20, 2017 | By Charles Wilkins
On March 20, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and crew had the rare opportunity to achieve one of the rarest of all Line Crossings, The Royal Order of Purple Porpoises. While in the area of Howland and Baker Islands at this particular time of year, the Okeanos will cross the junction of the Equator and International Dateline at the time of the Vernal Equinox.
Read moreMarch 18, 2017 | By Mark Royer and Danny Coffey
At the start of the remotely operated vehicle dive at Pao Pao Seamount on March 10, scientists got incredible footage of two adult bluntnose sixgill sharks swimming together at a depth of 500 meters. As their name implies, sixgill sharks are distinguished by their six pairs of gills, whereas most sharks have only five pairs.
Read moreMarch 16, 2017 | By Brian Kennedy
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer is dependent on satellites to allow us to share our dives live with the world. For the Okeanos Explorer satcom system to work, the ship’s VSAT has to remain pointed directly at the satellite.
Read moreMarch 14, 2017 | By Adrienne Copeland
If you tune into the live feeds and start watching early, sometimes you will see this weird rectangular object with colors and black bars. Have you ever wondered what this is for? It is called a Color Chip Chart.
Read moreMarch 11, 2017 | By Derek Sowers, Charles Wilkins, and Jason Meyer
What is the first thing you need when exploring a mysterious part of the ocean? What might you need before deploying expensive one-of-a-kind remotely operated vehicles into the deep sea? Well, good maps of the area, of course!
Read moreMarch 8, 2017 | By Adrienne Copeland
With a record number of women on board this expedition, what better way to celebrate National Women's History Month on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer than to interview one of the scientists leading the expedition? You may have heard her on the live feeds during previous expeditions and she is famous for coining the phrase “deep-sea TV.”
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