Our first expedition of the 2026 season is a seafloor mapping expedition from Hawaiʻi to Guam, where E/V Nautilus will support subsequent expeditions exploring deep-sea habitats around the Mariana Islands. The expedition will use the deep-water mapping capabilities of E/V Nautilus to map previously uncharted seafloor, with the goal of filling gaps in seabed mapping and thereby supporting the priorities of the US National Strategy for Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization and Seabed 2030. This will be the first operational deployment of the newly installed state-of-the-art EM304 mapping system on E/V Nautilus. This technology investment, in partnership with the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal Ocean Mapping and Kongsberg, will enable us to expand our mapping and exploration capabilities to depths never before reached. In addition to continuous seafloor mapping operations, the expedition will include open-ocean biodiversity surveys of seabirds and other marine species from the observation deck on E/V Nautilus.
Expedition Leader
Expedition Partners
