Lebuu's Voyage Sets Sail to Explore Deep Sea of Palau National Marine Sanctuary

OET is setting sail on our Lebuu’s Voyage to explore deep-sea habitats within Euotelel a Klingil a Debel Belau, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS). Eleven local scientists, educators, cultural liaisons, and early career professionals are part of this interdisciplinary expedition team led by Ocean Exploration Trust in close partnership with the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) and NOAA Ocean Exploration. 

Over the next three weeks, two back-to-back expeditions will gather seafloor mapping data and explore the seafloor with remotely operated vehicles to illuminate deep-sea habitats around Palau. These expeditions are funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute as the first step in fulfilling the US Government commitment made at the 7th Our Ocean Conference to support ocean mapping of the PNMS and are part of its Beyond the Blue: Illuminating the Pacific campaign. Additional NOAA Ocean Exploration-sponsored expeditions in the region are planned in 2025 aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. All data gathered will be provided to the Palauan government and PICRC to support and enable additional follow-on exploration and management activities to better understand and care for the ocean. 

“NOAA Ocean Exploration is grateful to participate in this unique science collaboration with the Republic of Palau, and we are pleased to support these exciting expeditions to gather baseline information about these remarkable and largely unknown areas of their deep sea waters,” says NOAA Ocean Exploration Director Jeremy Weirich.

Credit

Ocean Exploration Trust

The expeditions were named Lebuu’s Voyage by Palauan stakeholders as part of a strategic effort to advance traditional knowledge and best practices in tandem with scientific understanding. This process is being facilitated by PICRC, the Bureau of Cultural & Historical Preservation Office, and OneReef Micronesia. 

“This expedition is a unique opportunity for scientists and the Palauan community to increase our understanding of our offshore environment which we currently know very little about. We will be seeing a lot of these areas and species for the first time, thanks to the extraordinary support and partnership of NOAA and OET,” says King M. Sam, Program Manager, Palau National Marine Sanctuary.

Protecting 80% of Palau’s exclusive economic zone, PNMS is closed to fishing, mining, and similar extractive activities. Its management regulations align with the Palauan practice of BUL, a tradition of leaving ecosystems undisturbed by humans. While Palau is celebrated worldwide for its conservation commitments, diverse marine resources in the shallow oceans, and famously deep ecosystems in the Palau Trench, there is very little publicly available data from its deep ocean. Today, less than 30% of Palau’s ocean territory has been mapped to high resolution. This expedition will help expand the knowledge about the types of habitats and the biodiverse life that calls the deep water regions surrounding Palau home. 

“Palau’s rich marine biodiversity is world-renowned, yet the vast majority of its ocean ecosystems lie in deep waters that we know very little about. The upcoming expeditions will explore many of these deep-water ecosystems for the first time, and allow anyone with an Internet connection to watch live,” says OET Chief Scientist Daniel Wagner.  

These expeditions will also use streaming telepresence technology, social media, and OET’s robust educational outreach programs to engage broad audiences across Palau and the Pacific Island Region. Everyone can help explore PNMS via NautilusLive.org, a 24-hour live-streaming web portal bringing deep sea footage and the excitement of discovery from the field to explorers on shore. The team hosts live audio commentary through the Nautilus Live website. Schools and community groups are encouraged to schedule free, live one-on-one Q&A sessions with explorers on the ship. 

Local programs have included developing the first Palauan language deep ocean vocabulary Omesubel a Nautilus, endorsed by the Palauan Language Commission, and hosting a nationwide student art contest to design stickers reflecting the voyages’ cultural connections.  

In co-designing these expeditions, priority was placed on elevating Palauan and local participants into all aspects of the team. Eleven participants from seven states will sail on the Lebuu’s Voyage expeditions building capacity for ocean science, communications, education, and perpetuating cultural traditions for the next generation, with more leaders participating from shore. 

“It is difficult to tie the importance and value of something when there is little known information about it, and more so of what we cannot see. With Lebuu’s Voyage, we will be able to explore uncharted areas and depths, learning more about the unique ecosystems within Palau’s waters. We’re all very excited for these expeditions and to bring along anyone and everyone interested to learn first hand, alongside those on board, the unique and interesting discoveries and observations through the 24-hour livestream and ship-to-shore interactions,” says PICRC Chief Researcher and Lebuu’s Voyage Onshore Science Lead Ikelau Otto.  

Ocean Exploration Trust, a nonprofit founded by Dr. Robert Ballard, operates with a mission to explore the unknown parts of the ocean, seeking out new discoveries in geology, biology, and hydrography while pushing the boundaries of STEAM education and technological innovation. OET’s ten 2024 expeditions in Hawaiʻi, American Samoa, US Pacific Remote Islands, Palau, and Canada will contribute to the ocean being better understood by supporting international scientific and U.S. governmental priorities, particularly understanding ocean changes, sharing that knowledge with others, and contributing discoveries and data that will inform future conservation and management decisions.