In our second expedition of the year in the Mariana region, E/V Nautilus will spend 22-days at sea. The expedition will utilize the ROV, mapping, and telepresence systems of E/V Nautilus in combination with autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry to explore priority deep-sea areas identified by the management and science community, including abyssal plain habitats, as well as other deep-sea areas offshore the Mariana Islands that support resource management priorities. This is the second of two consecutive E/V Nautilus expeditions that will explore poorly known deep-sea habitats around the Mariana Islands in 2026, and focus on the northeasternmost portion of the US EEZ around the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. On this expedition, the team will also deploy a high-frequency acoustic recording package from the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to support cetacean monitoring in the region.
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During our exploration of the Mariana Islands region, we'll visit some of the oldest seafloor on Earth. While the are has been an important global focus for deep-sea research, the vast majority of deep-sea habitats east of the Mariana Trench remain unsurveyed and uncharacterized. These widespread areas cover close to one-quarter of the US Exclusive Economic Zone around the Mariana Islands and are by far the least surveyed in the region. In addition to being virtually unexplored, these areas also contain the oldest seafloor in the Pacific (over 167 million years old).
While exploring the Marianas, OET's ROVs Hercules and Little Hercules, alongside WHOI's AUV Sentry and Waveglider, will work together to put eyes on parts of the seafloor never before surveyed. For the first expedition (NA179), we'll be focusing on the southern area east of the Mariana Trench. The next expedition, NA180, will focus on sites further north.
Happy World Oceans Day! We're thrilled to be launching our 2026 ocean exploration season very soon and to share our discoveries of the global ocean with the world through 24/7 live streaming. Learn more about the 2026 season via The Guam Daily Post.
OET is proud to welcome Adolfo Rodríguez Velázquez from Puerto Rico to our 2026 Science Communication Fellow cohort! Learn more about this science communicator and professor from the UPR Cayey via Primera Hora.
¡OET se enorgullece de dar la bienvenida a Adolfo Rodríguez Velázquez, de Puerto Rico, a nuestra cohorte de Becarios de Comunicación Científica de 2026!
