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.