GUEST EDITORS
Nicole A. Raineault, Joanne Flanders, and Eric Niiler
OCEANOGRAPHY
Vol. 34, No. 1, Supplement, March 2021
The E/V Nautilus, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer,
and R/V Falkor 2020 Field Season
NEW FRONTIERS IN
OCEAN EXPLORATION
ON THE COVER. A team aboard E/V Nautilus
recovers ROV Hercules after a dive in the
Southern California Borderland in November
2020 (NA124). Image credit: Ocean Exploration
Trust/Nautilus Live
A variety of life, including corals and a very
rare Astrosarkus (commonly called a "pumpkin
star"), cling to a scarp face at 120 m depth found
during one of Schmidt Ocean Institute's expe-
ditions near Lihou Reef in the Coral Sea Marine
Park. This occurrence of the pumpkin star is a
substantial range extension to what has been
known. Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
PREFERRED CITATION
Raineault, N.A., J. Flanders, and E. Niiler, eds. 2021. New frontiers in ocean exploration: The E/V Nautilus,
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and R/V Falkor 2020 field season. Oceanography 34(1), supplement, 78 pp.,
https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.supplement.01.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
Inner Space Center Media Production in the Cloud: Adapting Ocean Science Communication for the 21st Century ....................4
2020 Expedition Overview Map ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................6
PART 1. OCEAN EXPLORATION TRUST – E/V NAUTILUS .............................................................................................................................................8
Technology ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................10
Microbes to Microplastics: E/V Nautilus Expedition Samples in 2020 ...................................................................................................................................18
Bringing the Ocean to a Remote Learning World: Innovating with Telepresence .....................................................................................................20
Nautilus Field Season Overview ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................24
• Telepresence Closes the Distance in E/V Nautilus 2020 Field Season ...............................................................................................................................26
• Expanding Seabed Mapping: Supporting the US National Ocean Exploration and Characterization Efforts
in the US West Coast Exclusive Economic Zone..................................................................................................................................................................................28
• Ocean Networks Canada: Advancing Ocean Observing Technology and Science ...............................................................................................30
• Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Gradients of Blue Economic Seep Resources ...................................................................32
• Exploring Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary .....................................................................................................................................................................34
• California Streaming: Exploring Deep-Sea Coral and Sponge Assemblages in Sunny Southern California ....................................36
• Biodiversity Baselines and Biopharmaceutical Potential for the Borderland .............................................................................................................38
• Updates from the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute ...................................................................................................................................40
PART 2. NOAA OFFICE OF OCEAN EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH ............................................................................................................44
Introduction: Looking Back and Looking Forward with the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring,
and Characterizing the US Exclusive Economic Zone ........................................................................................................................................................................46
Harnessing the Blue Economy by Expanding Ocean Exploration ...........................................................................................................................................48
Exploring and Characterizing the Ocean ......................................................................................................................................................................................................51
Engaging Educators and the Public with Virtual Tools ......................................................................................................................................................................53
OER Partnerships Lead to New Exploration Technologies .............................................................................................................................................................55
Overcoming Challenges While Looking Ahead to 2021 ..................................................................................................................................................................57
PART 3. SCHMIDT OCEAN INSTITUTE – R/V FALKOR ....................................................................................................................................................58
Exploration Down Under: The Schmidt Ocean Institute 2020 Field Season....................................................................................................................60
WHAT’S NEXT: OVERCOMING A TUMULTUOUS YEAR .................................................................................................................................................68
Authors ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................70
Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................72
References ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................77
Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................78
In the deep dark ocean, life seems to
attract other life. This small crusta-
cean clings happily to a black coral
where it sifts through the food that
the water movement delivers, both for
the coral and the crustacean. Image
credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
INTRODUCTION
By Nicole A. Raineault, Genene Fisher, and Carlie Wiener
This eleventh installment of the annual ocean exploration
supplement to Oceanography, the official magazine of
The Oceanography Society, highlights the work of three
vessels that contribute to exploring the world ocean:
the Ocean Exploration Trust’s (OET's) E/V Nautilus, NOAA
Ship Okeanos Explorer, and Schmidt Ocean Institute’s
(SOI's) R/V Falkor.
Although the global COVID-19 pandemic impacted the
2020 programs, it did not prevent the execution of signif-
icant ocean exploration work, both at sea and on shore.
R/V Falkor and E/V Nautilus took to the seas for modified
programs. NOAA paused at-sea operations for Okeanos
Explorer, with the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and
Research (OER) instead focusing on development of
universal exploration products and enhancement of its
virtual engagement efforts. The pages that follow contain
summaries of the 2020 expeditions, including initial results;
highlights of new programs and initiatives, many of which
were catalyzed by the pandemic; and information on future
exploration plans.
The first section highlights OET and E/V Nautilus pro-
grams. The pandemic delayed the start of the season, as
the shipyard work to replace the engine was slowed. New
mobile control vans and an integrated studio van were also
installed and tested before the season got underway in
August. The shipboard team size was limited, which meant
many dives and entire expeditions were led from shore.
OET conducted cabled observatory work in partnership
with Ocean Networks Canada and the University of Victoria
(pages 30–31). Olympic Coast, Greater Farallones, Monterey
Bay, and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuaries and
sites within the proposed Chumash Heritage National
Marine Sanctuary were mapped and characterized
with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs; pages 32–37).
Expeditions focusing on the US blue economy featured
ROV dives along the California Borderland and the Cascadia
margin, supporting research into the biopharmaceutical/
biotechnological possibilities of the deep sea and the
broader importance of these areas (pages 32–33 and
38–39). Finally, the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative
Institute (OECI) hired a director, Adam Soule, who started
work at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School
of Oceanography in January. The institutions involved in
this venture have formalized working groups organized
to catalyze collaborations in key areas such as science and
technology, data management and usability, telepresence
technologies, and education and branding. Technologies
that will improve our ability to explore the ocean were
modified, acquired, or tested and will feature in the Nautilus
2021 field season and beyond (pages 40–43).
The second section focuses on the 2020 activities of the
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. It opens
with an overview of the US strategy for ocean exploration
that led to OER’s creation (page 46–47) and then intro-
duces the new White House National Strategy for Mapping,
Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive
Economic Zone (NOMEC, 2020) and describes how OER’s
mission fits within its blueprint (pages 46–47). The section
discusses an underlying objective of the National Ocean
Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization (NOMEC)
Council to expand the US blue economy (pages 48–50),
provides examples of OER’s grant-supported projects that
are tied to the blue economy in the areas of bioprospect-
ing (page 49) and deep-sea methane seeps (page 49), and
describes development plans for a long-duration sensor
platform (page 50). OER then summarizes work that sup-
ports the NOMEC blueprint for exploration and characteri-
zation of the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and provides
examples of the deep-sea products, exploration models,
and strategies (pages 51–52) that can be utilized by the
broader community. This section also describes a mapping
survey conducted in partnership with a commercial firm
and designed to accelerate mapping of the EEZ (page 52);
its success filled a significant gap in EEZ coverage while
advancing objectives of the Atlantic Seafloor Partnership
for Integrated Research and Exploration (ASPIRE). OER
then discusses the NOMEC objective to build public and
private partnerships and inspire and involve the public
through such efforts as a matrixed educational program,
new professional development offerings for educators, and
an expanded internship program (pages 53–54). Next, OER
highlights the OER-supported NOMEC objective to develop
new and emerging science and mapping technologies and
features advancements in telepresence, remote mapping,
and autonomous vessel technologies (pages 55–57). This
section closes with a quick look at 2021 plans for Okeanos
Explorer. After a series of shakedowns and sea trials for new
mission systems that were installed during the winter repair
period, the ship will conduct a technology demonstration
as part of OER's commitment to advancing ocean technol-
ogies, explore seamounts off New England in support of
ASPIRE priorities, and focus on deep-sea mapping offshore
the southeastern United States (page 57).
The year 2020 held surprises and discoveries for Schmidt
Ocean Institute, as R/V Falkor undertook a year-long initia-
tive in waters off Australia. Eight expeditions with inter-
disciplinary teams of scientists from Australia and around
the world allowed for some of the first visualizations of
the continent's deep-sea environments (pages 58–67).
The collected imagery, samples, and data have important
implications for future management decisions within the
Coral Sea, Gascoyne, and Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks.
Along with the underwater surveys, Falkor’s mapping effort
will help scientists better understand the Australian conti-
nent’s formation, history, and how its ecosystems have
responded to climatic shifts and tectonic movement in the
geologic past. This section highlights the expeditions filled
with surprising new species, achievements, and discover-
ies, including a 500 m tall detached reef in the Great Barrier
Reef—the first discovered in this area in the last 120 years.
Exploration in 2021 will capitalize on the groundwork laid
this past year by the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative
Institute as we apply new technologies and concepts of
operation to our expeditions. As this publication went
to press, OER welcomed aboard its new Cooperative
Institute Manager who will work closely with the OECI
host University of Rhode Island and partnership institu-
tions at the University of New Hampshire, the University
of Southern Mississippi, the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, and the not-for-profit Ocean Exploration Trust.
Nautilus will explore the waters between the US West
Coast and Canada and then move west to continue explo-
ration within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National
Monument and other waters off Hawai‘i. Okeanos Explorer
will conduct a technology demonstration expedition,
explore the New England and Corner Rise Seamounts that
formed when the North American Plate moved over the
Great Meteor hotspot about 75 million years ago, and close
gaps in the bathymetric coverage of waters offshore the
southeastern United States. An objective of the demonstra-
tion is to validate and develop the use of Terrain Relative
Navigation with respect to full ocean depth (11,000 m)
capable autonomous underwater vehicles. Schmidt Ocean
Institute will continue to brave new frontiers in the ocean,
pursuing work in Australian waters and the Pacific Ocean
with skilled research, community participation, and inter-
disciplinary collaborations. SOI, OET, and OER are partner-
ing with large-scale international initiatives such as the
UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
and the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project.
These global campaigns are good examples of how collab-
oration can lead to broader understanding of our ocean.
We are committed to this collaborative work and extremely
hopeful about the future.
During an expedition in the Coral Sea, Schmidt
Ocean Institute uses ROV SuBastian to sample
sea life in the water column for Dhugal Lindsay,
a collaborator following remotely from the Japan
Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute
The Inner Space Center (ISC) is a leader in using cutting-
edge telepresence technologies to support live ocean
exploration and connect scientists and other audiences on
shore with ocean science activities at sea. During a standard
ocean exploration season, the ISC provides telepresence
engineering and media production support for vessels such
as NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and E/V Nautilus to facilitate,
capture, produce, and promote underwater exploration in
real time. Although 2020 was a nontraditional exploration
season in many ways, the ISC was well positioned to meet
many of the challenges associated with remote networking
and ocean science engagement during the pandemic.
However, without ship-based communicators to estab-
lish an engagement link, the ISC Media and Production
Team had to adapt the way in which audiences—science
and nonscience—could use telepresence connections and
access oceanographic content. The team had to redefine
production strategies while working from home and con-
duct more virtual meetings in the cloud.
Advancing Reach Through Telepresence Technology
(ARTT) was the team’s first successful demonstration of
remote media production. The highly produced video piece,
fully created while team members worked entirely at home,
was submitted to the US National Science Foundation’s
(NSF) STEM for All Video Showcase in May 2020. The video
highlighted the ocean science research and communication
efforts of the NSF-funded Northwest Passage Project
(Figure 1). It received over 3,600 views and was awarded a
“Presenter’s Choice” medal during the Showcase.
To further media and production efforts during the pan-
demic, the team connected with existing partners to talk
about engagement priorities and remote programming
considerations. Members of the media and communica-
tions industry were also contacted to better understand
the production tools and techniques they used for virtual
engagement. This initial research was key to developing
effective processes for cloud-based media production. New
ways of collaboration were realized, and IP-based tools were
identified and tested to broadly support the engagement
activities of the ocean exploration community.
Software-based IP communications, which maintain
content and media assets in the cloud, are less expensive
and require less staff time to operate than traditional
telepresence practices. These strategies free up resources
for other purposes, such as creating targeted programming
for specific audiences and achieving continuity across
different communication platforms. However, shifting to a
more IP-based mode of communication and production is
a fundamental shift away from traditional ISC telepresence
models, which are built on broadband-based equipment
and signal flow as well as high-end broadcast hardware and
hub-like facilities to support communication infrastructure.
The ISC tested and invested in multiple pieces of produc-
tion software to successfully produce engaging and inter-
active programming in the cloud. Mobile-friendly intercom
applications, like Unity Intercom, were utilized for remote
communications during live programs. The ease of the
modern, web-based, user-friendly platform StreamYard,
with an Internet connection as the only requirement,
allowed connection to activities with one click.
This more accessible, browser-based entry point
increased science communication opportunities with
ocean and engineering professionals while not burdening
them with the unnecessary weight of managing produc-
tion elements. Collecting and formatting images and
video, building a specific brand for each series or program,
displaying and transitioning media during live programs,
monitoring audio, tracking audience questions and
Inner Space Center Media Production in the Cloud
Adapting Ocean Science Communication for the 21st Century
By Holly Morin, Alex DeCiccio, Ryan Campos, Jessica Kaelblein, Derek Sutcliffe, and Dwight F. Coleman
FIGURE 1. Almost a year after successful completion of the Northwest
Passage Project, the ISC participated in the NSF STEM for All Video
Showcase to share the project’s research, student engagement, and
science communication techniques with others in the STEM com-
munity. Advancing Reach Through Telepresence Technology was
entirely produced by the ISC Team while working from home.
44
A few noteworthy lessons were learned during the ISC’s
dive into IP-based media production from home. The team
developed a renewed awareness of the importance of
workforce dynamics such as patience, respect, and flexi-
bility. At the same time, effective and consistent commu-
nication— both internally and externally— remained a top
priority. Each ISC Media and Production project began with
a dialogue that focused within a single, shared document.
These documents became the framework that guided the
development of each program. They also formed the back-
bone for a new, collaborative process for efficient media
production, one that embraces uncertainty and new ideas
as well as the free flow of communication.
Although the year 2020 was challenging, the adjustment
to working in a virtual environment offered an opportunity
to reflect on best practices and improve efficiencies. A new
sense of place and potential paradigm shift for ocean explo-
ration media production was recognized in the cloud envi-
ronment. It is nimble and accessible and highlights the ISC’s
efforts to embrace modern approaches to communicating
science and enabling future capacities for the way people
connect to the world of ocean science and exploration.
comments in real time, and sharing questions with hosts
and experts during live broadcasts were the responsibility
of ISC staff working remotely from home. This enhanced
the impact of each program by allowing presenters to
focus on telling their stories and engaging with hosts and
audiences. Broadcast format transitioned from a more
standard, single speaker/presentation style to one that was
more interactive and conversation-based (Figure 2).
Guests and hosts alike noted the seamlessness of these
programs and appreciated the ease of discussion that
took place. The comfort level of teleconferencing helped
accelerate the early adoption of these programs in terms of
connecting with subject matter experts and sharing their
stories from home.
An IP-based approach to interactive programming also
allowed ship-based feeds to be incorporated into the same
browser-based broadcast studio. This created a unique
opportunity for an enhanced “watch-party” environment
with video and audio that included select shore-based
observers and ship personnel (Figure 3). As IP-based com-
munications replaced certain components of the traditional
broadcast environment, ISC production members could
also “hot-swap” their roles and responsibilities, even during
live programming. Such flexibility allowed for expanded
training opportunities for producers and communicators,
including those outside the ISC team.
From April through December 2020, the ISC produced
and/or hosted over 40 virtual and interactive programs,
including 17 Ocean Classroom Live episodes in collabora-
tion with the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School
of Oceanography (URI/GSO) (Figure 4). The programs
covered topics such as ocean careers, shark behavior and
biology, and hurricanes; they aired through outlets such as
YouTube and Facebook Live; and they have been archived
to these social media platforms as well as the URI/GSO
website with associated resources. As of December 2020,
the videos have received nearly 10,000 cumulative views
on Facebook and over 1,400 views on YouTube.
FIGURE 2. Remotely operated vehicle pilot and engineer, Jessica
Sandoval, speaks as a content expert in a Deep Sea Dialogues video
on underwater robotics. In addition to being a stand-alone media
piece, the video is also a supporting resource to NOAA OER’s virtual
professional development programs (supported by the ISC).
FIGURE 3. Hosted by Samantha Wishnak, Communications Manager
for the Ocean Exploration Trust, this Next on Nautilus: Channel
Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Santa Lucia Bank episode
featured the new ship broadcast studio and remote participants,
creating a “watch-party” environment between ship and shore.
FIGURE 4. During the 16th episode of the URI/GSO’s Ocean Classroom
Live, the ISC’s Alex DeCicco fields audience questions live, with
Colleen Peters and Kylie Pasternak of URI/GSO. The focus of this
episode was ship-based career stories.
1
5
4 3
6
7
2
Page 28
Expanding Seabed Mapping
in the US West Coast
Exclusive Economic Zone
Page 38
Biodiversity Baselines
and Biopharmaceutical
Potential for the Borderland
6
Page 30
Ocean Networks Canada:
Advancing Ocean Observing
Technology and Science
1
2
Page 32
Olympic Coast National
Marine Sanctuary and
Gradients of Blue Economic
Seep Resources
3
Page 36
Exploring Deep-Sea Coral
and Sponge Assemblages in
Southern California
5
Page 34
Exploring Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary
4
Page 61
The Great Australian
Deep-Sea Coral and
Canyon Adventure
Page 62
Illuminating the
Biodiversity of the
Ningaloo Canyons
Page 63
Visioning the Coral Sea
Marine Park
Page 64
Seamounts, Canyons, and
Reefs of the Coral Sea
1
2
3
4
Page 65
Northern Depths of
the Great Barrier Reef
5
Page 66
Ice Age Geology of
the Great Barrier Reef
Page 67
Pinging in the New Year
6
7
R/V FALKOR EXPEDITIONS
E/V NAUTILUS
EXPEDITIONS