INTRODUCTION By Samantha Wishnak, Genene Fisher, and Carlie Wiener
This twelfth installment of the ocean exploration sup-
plement to Oceanography, the official magazine of
The Oceanography Society, highlights the work of three
vessels that contribute to exploring the world ocean: Ocean
Exploration Trust’s (OET’s) E/V Nautilus, NOAA Ship Okeanos
Explorer, and Schmidt Ocean Institute’s (SOI’s) R/V Falkor.
Expedition programs in 2021 featured exploration of
two ocean basins, with Nautilus off the west coast of the
United States and British Columbia, and out to the Central
Pacific; Okeanos Explorer in the North Atlantic; and Falkor
leaving the Pacific to return to the Atlantic Ocean. All
three organizations continued to develop shipboard and
shoreside collaborations to adapt to conducting opera-
tions at sea during the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. The
pages that follow contain expedition summaries, including
initial results, highlights of new scientific programs and
education and outreach initiatives, and previews of future
exploration plans.
The first expeditions of the 2021 Nautilus season cen-
tered on the west coast of North America, featuring oxy-
gen minimum zones off southern California (pages 26–27),
methane seeps on the Cascadia margin (pages 28–29),
and continued work with University of Victoria’s Ocean
Networks Canada (ONC) to support its offshore cabled
observatory (pages 30–31). As Nautilus neared the end of
the ONC expedition, the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)
Hercules and Argus became detached from the vessel, and
thanks to the incredible support of the oceanographic
community, we were able to quickly mount a recovery
mission (pages 32–33). Next, Nautilus hosted the first NOAA
Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI) technology
demonstration, which focused on advancing the efficiency
and effectiveness of vehicle technology and engineering
for ocean exploration (pages 34–35 and 62–63). Nautilus
then mapped its way to Hawai‘i to begin a multi-year
emphasis on exploring the US Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ) in the Central Pacific. Two expeditions within and near
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM)
included ROV surveys on seamount chains to document
coral and sponge communities and to lay the groundwork
for 2022 surveys (pages 36–39). During the field season,
several expeditions mapped large swaths of seafloor to fill
gaps in existing bathymetric data, supporting OECI goals
as well as those of national and international collaborations
to map the entire global seafloor by 2030 (pages 24–25).
The OET section of the supplement includes detailed sum-
maries of Nautilus shipboard technologies (pages 8–15),
specimen collection highlights (pages 16–17), and early
findings from several expeditions. In preparation for our
work within PMNM, OET expanded its suite of education
and outreach offerings and collaborated with local part-
ners to co-develop meaningful outreach and education
opportunities that incorporate Hawaiian culture and worl-
dview into Nautilus expeditions (pages 18–21). In addition
to the E/V Nautilus field season, OET also partnered with
the University of New Hampshire and the NOAA Office of
National Marine Sanctuaries to conduct an inland expedi-
tion at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary located in
Lake Huron (pages 40–41).