The Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus. Photo: Courtesy of the Ocean Exploration Trust
The Ocean Exploration Trust has finalized plans for the 2023 expedition season aboard the Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus. For the 2023 season, there will be 10 separate expeditions at sea over an eight-month stretch. The (E/V) Nautilus will travel from Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands up to British Columbia and back, mapping and exploring deep sea habitats while integrating several emerging technologies into their at-sea operations.
“We are excited to build on our longstanding partnerships and new collaborations for the 2023 Nautilus expedition as we visit incredible sites of geological, biological, and cultural significance across the Pacific,” says Allison Fundis, OET COO. “Our collaborators and partners are essential to our program as we work to operationalize new technologies that advance the field of ocean exploration, bring the deep sea to classrooms and homes around the globe, and most importantly as we work to conduct ocean exploration expeditions in more ethical and equitable ways.”
The expeditions are mainly supported by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, “a consortium that brings together the scientific expertise and ocean exploration technologies from the Ocean Exploration Trust, University of Rhode Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of New Hampshire, and the University of Southern Mississippi.”
Through the research and the support of their partners, the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute hopes to speed up the exploration of the three billion acres of submerged U.S. territory and further NOAA’s and the U.S. National Strategy’s mission of mapping, exploring, and characterizing the ocean. The ten expeditions also support the Biden-Harris administration’s executive order on tackling the climate crisis (30×30), the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation’s Seabed2030 Program, and the United Nations’ Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
“Most of our global ocean remains unmapped and unexplored, leaving significant knowledge gaps and hindering efforts to effectively manage our ocean resources,” says OET Chief Scientist Daniel Wagner. “Our expeditions will focus on collecting critical baseline information in unexplored areas, and thereby addressing the needs of the resource management and scientific community.”
The expeditions will be fully available to the public and will offer interactive options. From May to December 2023, the E/V Nautilus expeditions will be live streamed on NautilusLive.org. Viewers will have the opportunity to ask the at-sea team questions via the website and STEM professionals will connect directly with classrooms.
The Ocean Exploration trust recognizes the indigenous and local communities of Oceania and “is committed to building connections with local communities in expedition regions through co-developing expedition plans, making data publicly accessible, and coordinating outreach with schools and community groups, and welcomes collaborative partnership inquiries at info@oet.org.” Stay up to date with the expeditions here.
2023 Ocean Exploration Schedule
Exploring Deep Sea Habitats Near Kingman Reef & Palmyra Atoll | May 16 – June 14, 2023
Mid-Pacific Mapping Northbound | June 16 – June 25, 2023
Ocean Networks Canada Maintenance and Exploration | June 26 – July 18, 2023
Mid-Pacific Mapping Southbound | July 19 – July 29, 2023
Deep Sea Biodiversity & Ancient Seamount Exploration near Johnston Atoll | August 2 – 29, 2023
Ala ʻAumoana Kai Uli in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument | Sept 1 – 28, 2023
OECI Multi-Vehicle Exploration | October 1 – 19, 2023
Ocean Exploration Through Advanced Imaging | October 22 – November 5, 2023
Hawaiʻi Mapping | November 7 – 17, 2023
Jarvis Island Mapping | November 20 – December 20, 2023
