NOAA Ocean Exploration

This November, show your thanks for the deep ocean by downloading this cornucopia of marine life to your desktop. During a dive on a mound feature north of Uliaga Island in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we encountered a wall-to-wall forest of corals and sponges, which included this stunning barrel sponge. Get it here: https://lnkd.in/eiZxrKRE #ocean #explore #Okeanos #november #2024

Tomorrow, October 30 at 2 pm ET, tune in for a webinar to learn about efforts by the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute to explore waters in and around American Samoa: https://lnkd.in/euAuUmTQ #ocean #exploration #OECI #webinar #technology

Hello everyone! We are Sarah and Astrid, Explorers-in-Training on NOAA Ship #Okeanos Explorer during the Beyond the Blue: Papahānaumokuākea Mapping 3 expedition! Follow us here on our journey as we spend the next few weeks mapping the unknown seafloor in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (or visit https://lnkd.in/e6vr8Qmt to catch up on what you've missed)! (Image courtesy of Astrid Zapata-De Jesus.) #ocean #exploration #intern #takeover #science #mapping

It's the week of Halloween, so it's finally time to choose the Spooky Star Champion! Voting will be open through October 30, and we'll announce the final winner on Halloween. Learn more about these fascinating animals and support your favorite on our website: https://lnkd.in/gn_PHQ6J Your contestants are: The rhinochimaera: Commonly known as ghost sharks or rat fish, chimaeras are cartilaginous fish most closely related to sharks and rays. The "rhino" in rhinochimaera refers to the long noses that give some species of chimaera such a distinctive look. Movie fans might recognize that this particular animal looks a lot like Zero, Jack Skellington’s ghost dog in "The Nightmare Before Christmas." The bigfin squid: This kind of deep-ocean squid can reach lengths of more than 6 meters (20 feet). Most of that length is owed to their very thin arms and tentacles that may be used to catch small prey with microscopic suckers. Its unique body and behavior have made the bigfin squid one of the best-known ambassadors of deep-ocean science. The "Casper" octopus: This octopus’s lack of pigment and its ethereal movements give it a ghostly-yet-cute appearance, which led its fans on social media to nickname it "Casper." Casper is almost certainly an undescribed species and may not even belong to a described genus. It also won round three of our contest by a single vote! -Images courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration- #deepsea #Halloween

College student Wolfgang Tutiakoff served as a cultural liaison during the Exploring Attu’s Underwater Battlefield and Offshore Environment expedition this summer. Encompassing both grief and joy, Wolfgang paints a poignant picture of experiencing the land from afar and imagining the stories it has to tell. Read Wolfgang's story: https://lnkd.in/ejvQkDwz Image: The author in the field. Image courtesy of Wolfgang M. Tutiakoff. #ocean #exploration #Alaska #cultural #maritimeheritage

Public input is being requested by the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Exploration and Characterization to identify federal strategic priorities for ocean exploration and characterization in the Pacific Islands within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and Outer Continental Shelf. Public comments can be submitted through November 4 via a Federal Register Notice: https://lnkd.in/efu3ZDVJ #ocean #exploration #Pacific #input #priorities

TODAY (10/23) at 3 pm ET, join us to learn how autonomous underwater vehicles were used to map and explore inundated caves in southeast Alaska to better understand how early peoples journeyed to the Americas. Register here: https://lnkd.in/dyKbnfvy #ocean #exploration #webinar #technology #Alaska #paleolandscapes

As part of its mission to train the next generation of ocean explorers, NOAA Ocean Exploration hosts students each year through the Explorer-in-Training Program. Three explorers-in-training participated in our recent mapping expedition. Internship Program Coordinator Jesse Gwinn asked them about their experience, life at sea as an ocean mapping intern, and their favorite deep-sea creature or feature! Find out what they had to say: https://lnkd.in/dktKFyX7 [Image: Explorers-in-Training (from left to right) Abby Norstad, Nathanael Mathis, and Gina Knox jump for joy on the back deck of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, demonstrating their enthusiasm for their at-sea experience with NOAA Ocean Exploration.] #ocean #explore #okeanos #internship

The bigfin squid’s fan base has carried it to victory in round 2 of our Spooky Star contest! We’re now closing in on the Spooky Star finals, which will feature the rhinochimaera, the bigfin squid, and one more stellar contestant. But who will the third competitor be? Our last round of new animals features the dandelion siphonophore, the sea spider, and the “Casper” octopus. Learn more about these amazing creatures on our website—and don’t forget to vote for your favorite by October 27! https://lnkd.in/gn_PHQ6J Featured animals in round 3: Dandelion siphonophore: While they often look like one strange animal, siphonophores are actually a colony of individuals working together! Some of these individuals collect food while others handle jobs like defense, reproduction, or propelling the colony through the water. The dandelion siphonophore’s round shape and bright orange color remind many people of a jack-o’-lantern lighting up the night on Halloween. Sea spider: Sea spiders aren’t spiders! Both spiders and sea spiders are arthropods, but spiders belong to the class Arachnida while sea spiders belong to the class Pycnogonida. The sea spider also has vampiric tendencies: lacking teeth, it instead uses a tubelike mouth called a proboscis to suck fluids from its soft-bodied prey like anemones and worms. These animals may look intimidating to some, but they are completely harmless to humans and are important members of the ocean ecosystem. “Casper” the octopus: This octopus was found during the 2016 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawaiʻi expedition at a depth of 4,290 meters (2.7 miles). The discovery was a very happy surprise for the team participating in the expedition, as no octopus of this one’s type had ever been spotted at such extreme depths before. This octopus’s lack of pigment and its ethereal movements give it a ghostly-yet-cute appearance, which led its fans on social media to nickname it "Casper." Both spooky and cuddly: who could ask for anything more? #deepsea #halloween #ocean

Tomorrow, October 19, the Beyond the Blue: Papahānaumokuākea Mapping 3 expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer gets underway! During the expedition, the team will be conducting operations to map waters within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, filling important mapping gaps in this biologically, ecologically, culturally, and geologically significant region. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eThJ7FHB #ocean #exploration #Okeanos #map #science