March 2019

New Frontiers in Ocean Exploration: The E/V Nautilus, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and R/V Falkor 2018 Field Season

expeditions conducted along the Atlantic continental mar-

gin that filled in data gaps and contributed to Seabed 2030

and Galway Statement goals, which begins on page 82. We

then describe findings from deep-sea habitat exploration

around Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (pages 90–91).

OER’s 2018 mapping achievements and advances are sum-

marized next (pages 92–95), followed by an overview of

OER contributions to the US Extended Continental Shelf

Project. This project reached a historic American milestone

in 2018, having collected all the data needed to determine

the outer limits of the US Extended Continental Shelf (ECS).

We describe Okeanos Explorer’s own 2018 ECS contribution

(pages 98–99) before turning to discussions of technology

development and a new push to provide dedicated ship

time aboard Okeanos Explorer for testing emerging tech-

nologies (pages 100–103). We next review a DEEP SEARCH

expedition (pages 104–105) and then the wealth of data

these expeditions provide, as well as how those data are

collected and managed (pages 106–109). A series of arti-

cles on OER’s engagement and outreach strategies, STEM-

driven programs, and results from OER’s first National

Education Review follow (pages  110–117). We close the

section with articles that highlight innovative work funded

through OER grants that further leverage its mission. These

projects include state-of-the art water column technology

exploration, searches of submerged World War II battle-

fields, and exploration of the biodiversity and ecology

of the vast and poorly studied Clarion-Clipperton Zone,

among other innovative projects (pages 118–127).

In the final section, Schmidt Ocean Institute highlights

some of their significant accomplishments in 2018, illumi-

nating the important outcomes of expedition-based tech-

nology trials and software development, as well as new

vent and species discoveries. From mysterious White Shark

Cafés to methane bubbles emerging from the seafloor, new

collaborations with autonomous vehicles and software

helped to provide a better understanding of our dynamic

ocean. This section charts 13 expedition outcomes that

impacted ocean sciences this year. With its philanthropic

efforts, SOI aims to demonstrate how scalable innovation

can tackle important scientific and societal challenges

(pages 128–137).

The year 2019 will bring some new partnerships that

will grow our abilities to explore. Nautilus will investigate

regions between the US west coast and Howland and

Baker Islands in the Central Pacific and begin new partner-

ships with NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

in Thunder Bay and American Samoa. Okeanos Explorer

will probe and explore the seafloor and water column in

high-priority areas of the North Atlantic and expand its

technology demonstration efforts, while continuing to

advance its high-resolution mapping capabilities. Falkor

will continue to focus on the Western Pacific, with projects

that utilize advanced and coordinated robotic systems,

artificial intelligence, and other frontier technologies

to accelerate ocean research, conservation,

and management. We invite you to fol-

low our expeditions online. We look

forward to sharing highlights of our

discoveries with you next year.

A basket star is perched on a pinna-

cle blanketed by crinoids on Pilgrim

Bank off Southern California. The

photo was taken during E/V Nautilus

cruise NA104. Image credit: OET

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