Ocean Exploration Trust
Ocean Exploration Trust aims to explore the ocean, seeking out new discoveries while pushing the boundaries of education, outreach, and technological innovation. We recognize that the deep ocean shapes every life on this planet — regulating climate, sustaining fisheries, cycling nutrients, and supporting a web of life we are still discovering. Understanding the ocean is central to responsibly stewarding the planet we share. OET exists to close the knowledge gap that makes stewardship possible and ensure that knowledge belongs to everyone.
OET is an exploration and education organization. We map, observe, sample, share, and educate — generating the foundational science that the broader research and policy community draws on to understand the deep ocean. Stewardship begins with understanding: knowing what is there, how it functions, and what role it plays in the larger ocean system.
Our scientific expeditions are launched aboard Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus — a 68-meter research vessel equipped with remotely operated vehicles, mapping technologies, and serving as an integration platform for cutting-edge technologies. During our expeditions, we offer scientists, educators, students, and the global public a remote exploration experience via live video, audio, and data feeds from the field. NautilusLive.org offers an immersive experience year-round for explorers to learn more about our expeditions, find educational resources, and marvel at new discoveries.
OET was founded in 2007 with a single purpose: to explore the deep ocean and share that exploration openly with the world. Since 2009, E/V Nautilus has done exactly that — 180 expeditions, 1,114 ROV dives, 1.3 million square kilometers of seafloor mapped, 9,621 samples collected and publicly archived, with dives broadcast live to anyone in the world with an Internet connection. Over 500 peer-reviewed scientific publications have emerged from our expeditions. Hundreds of millions of people have been reached through our livestreams and online content, thousands of classrooms have been impacted by our ship-to-shore interaction programs, and hundreds of students and educators have been trained at sea, embedded in expeditions, gaining hands-on experience in ocean exploration and serving as STEM role models for the next generation.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, OET's work depends on a community of partners.
We collaborate with federal agencies, academic institutions, non-profits, private foundations, regional community partners, and the private sector to advance deep-sea exploration and engage the public and the next generation. Longstading federal partners include NOAA Ocean Exploration and the Office of Naval Research. Since 2019, OET has partnered with NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, a consortium of academic partners including the University of Rhode Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of New Hampshire, and University of Southern Mississippi.
Annual Reports
Ocean Exploration Trust Milestones
2007 -- OET was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
2008 -- OET acquired R/V Alexander von Humboldt, now E/V Nautilus.
2009 -- E/V Nautilus deployed for its first expedition season with a 3-week expedition in Turkey.
2010 -- E/V Nautilus deployed for a 4-month expedition in the Mediterranean Sea.
2011 -- E/V Nautilus deployed for a 4-month expedition in the Mediterranean, Aegean, & Black Seas.
2012 -- OET established an MOA with NOAA Office of Exploration & Research; OET hosted a community workshop to define exploration priorities in the Caribbean; E/V Nautilus deployed for a 2-month expedition in the Black & Aegean Seas.
2013 -- OET crosses the Atlantic Ocean with E/V Nautilus deployed for a 4-month expedition in the Gulf of Mexico & Caribbean Sea; OET installed a Kongsberg EM302 aboard E/V Nautilus.
2014 -- OET hosted a community workshop to define exploration priorities in the Eastern Pacific; E/V Nautilus deployed for a 4-month expedition in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
2015 -- E/V Nautilus crosses the Panama Canal amid being deployed for a 6-month expedition in the Gulf of Mexico, Galapagos, and the west coast of North America.
2016 -- E/V Nautilus deployed for a 5-month expedition along the west coast of North America.
2017 -- E/V Nautilus deployed for a 5.5-month expedition along the west coast of Central and North America.
2018 E/V Nautilus deployed for a 5.5-month expedition in the Eastern Pacific from California to British Columbia to Hawaiʻi, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone.
2019 In partnership with URI, WHOI, UNH, and USM, OET was awarded the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute; Installation of a traction winch, wet lab renovation aboard E/V Nautilus; OET’s mobile ROV system was brought online; E/V Nautilus deployed for a 5-month expedition in the Eastern and Central Pacific; OET conducted its first mission in the Great Lakes.
2020 -- Installation of a new engine aboard E/V Nautilus, along with the design and rebuild of the Nautilus control vans with an integrated broadcast studio. ROVs Little Hercules and Atalanta join the OET technology suite during a 4-month expedition season led primarily by science teams ashore amid the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
2021 -- E/V Nautilus is extended by 4 meters to support more autonomous vehicle systems, and a new cabin suite is built, increasing the berthing capacity to 50 team members. The team is deployed for a 5.5-month expedition season in the Eastern and Central Pacific.
2022 -- E/V Nautilus conducted a 7.5-month expedition season in the Central Pacific Ocean throughout the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and the main Hawaiian Islands. OET launches the new multi-depth exploration program with the National Geographic Society.
2023 -- OET celebrated the milestone of its 150th expedition (and 158th) in an 8-month expedition season in the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean!
2024 -- OET launches an 8-month expedition season to explore the Eastern, Central, and Western Pacific with ten expeditions in Hawaiʻi, American Samoa, US Pacific Remote Islands, Guam, Palau, and Canada.
2025 -- OET digital community grows to over 2 million followers; OET launches 6-month expedition season, including its most southerly expeditions exploring in Guam, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the US Pacific Remote Islands, and the Cook Islands!
