The use of optical mapping has the potential to create accurate and vastly higher-resolution models of submerged archaeological sites with a fraction of the time and costs of traditional underwater survey means. This project involved the completion of a high-resolution survey of an internationally important submerged site (Port Royal, Jamaica) and scientists in the process produced a robust system of underwater survey for use by the archaeological profession to produce detailed, photorealistic plans and models of submerged sites quickly, economically, and to a level of accuracy comparable to that achieved on terrestrial sites. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2014 Funding Opportunity.

This project extended the exploration on vision and bioluminescence in the deep-sea benthos to the Gulf of Mexico using the remotely operated vehicle Global Explorer, which has excellent imaging and collection capabilities. Images taken during the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer 2012 Gulf of Mexico expedition suggested that there are numerous examples of cnidarian/crustacean symbioses, leading to the intriguing possibility that they too may be selectively feeding on pelagic organisms that impact the benthic structures, a virtually unexplored type of benthic/pelagic coupling. This project aimed to significantly expand the exploration of deep-sea benthic bioluminescence, examine interactions between vision and bioluminescence and benthic bioluminescence, and characterize the communities of organisms in two relatively unknown deep-sea habitats - one on the northern West Florida Escarpment and the other at the base of the West Florida Escarpment. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2014 Funding Opportunity.

This project was part of a larger, multi-disciplinary group effort to explore marine communities from microbes to mammals and from sea ice to seafloor in a poorly known, bathymetrically and hydrographically complex Arctic region. As a group, scientists proposed a combination of photographic mapping using remotely operated vehicles, physical sampling, and state-of-the-art metagenomics to assess the diversity of this region. The focus of this module was to provide a taxonomic and biogeographic inventory of benthic invertebrate and fish communities across the complex Chuckchi Borderlands (CBL) region, as well as the marine mammal fauna of the region. Specifically, the project team explored whether the invertebrate and fish community of the CBL presents a biogeographic transition between Chukchi shelf fauna and the adjacent deep-sea fauna. Within this context, they were especially interested in the proportion of species of Atlantic origin because of the increasing influence of Atlantic water in this part of the Pacific Arctic sector. The CBL is a bathymetrically and hydrographically complex region, in which a field of pockmarks is a distinguishing benthic feature. One objective of this benthic module was to investigate these pockmarks for unique associations of invertebrate and fish fauna. Scientists also provided a link to higher trophic levels by observing the marine mammal community utilizing this region. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2015 Funding Opportunity.

Glacier Bay National Park (GBNP) protects unique deepwater fjords, internationally recognized as a refuge for many species of marine mammals and seabirds. What lives below the surface in the depths of the fjords, however, is still largely a mystery. The Red Tree Coral (Primnoa pacifica) has recently been found at shallow depths within the Park and a small black and white drop camera survey in 2010 showed the potential presence of three additional coral species in the park. Similar to tropical ecosystems, cold-water corals can form important habitats, creating oases supporting a wide diversity of life, making these cold-water corals areas important for GBNP's overarching marine diversity. Glacier Bay National Park may represent one of the few areas in the world where cold-water corals have been afforded de facto protection since 1925 (when the park became a National Monument), making their discovery an important one in terms of collecting baseline ecological data for potentially "pristine" environments - something as yet unobtainable for many cold-water coral habitats. This project focused on the central and east and west arms of GBNP and the unexplored remote fjords facing the outer Gulf of Alaska within the parks boundaries. Scientists also thoroughly explored and mapped a wide variety of habitats and examined the genetic continuity of populations of corals throughout this region.

More than 70 percent of volcanic activity on Earth occurs under the sea surface, and only a few percent of the volcanic seafloor environment has been explored. Back-arc settings are underexplored compared to mid-ocean ridge and volcanic arc settings and are therefore a priority for deep-ocean exploration today. In November to December 2015, the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab Earth-Ocean Interactions group started a two-part interdisciplinary exploration with the R/V Falkor of a vast area of the Mariana back-arc from 13 deg to 18.5 deg N and discovered four significant new hydrothermal vent fields. The 2015 expedition used CTD casts and tows to identify hydrothermal plumes in the water-column and the Sentry autonomous underwater vehicle to map the new hydrothermal sites. In addition, a previously unknown recent eruption site was discovered. For the second part of this project, on R/V Falkor with their new 4500-meter remotely operated vehicle, scientists returned to these newly discovered hydrothermal sites and collected baseline data on the seafloor to characterize their physical, chemical, and biological environments and processes. The data acquired from the new back-arc sites will help to test fundamental concepts about the role of geographic separation versus physical/chemical habitat characteristics in controlling macrofaunal and microbiological community structure. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2016 Funding Opportunity.

The Wire Flyer is a ship-towed autonomous profiling vehicle that slides up and down on a standard towed 0.322 cable using controllable wings for propulsion. The vehicle is able to profile at commanded vertical speeds between 0 and about 2.5 meters per second while being towed at a speed of between 3 to 4 knots. The system can operate over specified depth bands in the water column (e.g., 400 to 800 meters) and is not restricted to the upper few hundred meters like other towed undulating systems. This project integrated a side-looking split-beam multi-frequency echo-sounder into the Wire Flyer towed profiling vehicle for the purpose of providing unprecedented acoustic and environmental sampling resolution of midwater biomass. The motivation for the project was to exploit the high spatial resolution sampling capability of the Wire Flyer vehicle and provide complementary acoustic data in regions of the water column that have been traditionally under sampled. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2017 Funding Opportunity.

The World War II battle for Peleliu is considered of such significance that the entire island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historical Landmark in 1985 and portions were evaluated for National Historical Park status in 1991 and 2003. This project made a significant contribution to our understanding of the amphibious invasion through the discovery, identification, and recording of battle sites. Two well known, but rarely integrated, avenues of marine science were used to characterize, identify, interpret, and analyze battle remains. The traditional deployment of a geophysical and remote sensing package (side-scan and magnetometer) coupled with the use of a small remotely operated vehicle and drone, where appropriate, were complemented by marine biological characterization of the coral reef structures that now host these sites. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2017 Funding Opportunity.

Metabarcoding, a method of organism identification based on DNA, is often used to analyze marine environmental DNA (eDNA); however, questions remain with regard to optimal methods for extracting and assessing eDNA with minimal bias. The project team intended to improve existing eDNA methods and explore new frontiers in eDNA research in collaboration with NOAA. Their goals included comparing DNA primers, optimizing input DNA for metabarcoding, assessing cross-contamination risk during field collection, developing candidate metabarcoding primers for understudied taxa, and improving bioinformatic software pipelines for use by a broad range of users. The team conducted experimental work related to improving core methods by optimizing primer concentration, evaluating increased sequencing depth, measuring absolute eDNA concentration, and assessing nontarget eDNA effects. In experimental testing, the team found that including an internal standard in metabarcoding polymerase chain reactions can quantify absolute fish eDNA copies; this creates the potential to assess absolute fish abundance with metabarcoding. This project was funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration in fiscal year 2021 through a Broad Agency Announcement.

Between April 14 and May 10, 2021 EX-21-01 performed the sea acceptance testing of the newly installed Kongsberg EM 304 MKII transmit array, conducted mission readiness of the mapping systems through annual testing and calibration, and mapped unexplored areas of the Blake Plateau. In addition to the EM 304 multibeam sonar objectives, EK60/80 split-beam echosounder objectives included acceptance of the newly installed EK80 38 kHz transducer and calibration of each frequency (18, 38, 70, 120, 200 kHz). Other mission readiness objectives included ensuring functionality of all ancillary equipment, including sound speed profiling equipment, updating and refining procedural documents, and defining new procedures for supporting shore-based processing using the Cloud. EX-21-01 collected 22,187 square kilometers of bathymetry and associated water column data, with 18,773 square kilometers being within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and Territorial Sea deeper than 200 m.

This project aims to meet BOEM's urgent science needs in the Mid- and South-Atlantic planning areas, and involves collaboration among three federal agencies: BOEM, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and the USGS. The project goal is to improve understanding of the planktonic and benthic communities (including corals) that reside in and around mid- and South-Atlantic canyon and cold seep habitats, including estimates of genetic connectivity among sites and trophic connectivity from the water column to benthic communities.

The NF-19-09 expedition on board the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster was part of the multi-year Deep SEARCH project. This cruise occurred from October 21 to October 30, 2019. The cruise will focus on several seep sites, canyons, and hard bottom features located less than 100 nm offshore. This is the third research expedition associated with the Deep SEARCH project focused on exploring and characterizing seeps, corals, and canyon environments along the Atlantic margin. This project is a collaboration among three federal agencies: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). TDI Brooks with academic partners has been selected to serve as BOEM contractor for this study. Data gathered during this mission and past cruises for this project will help inform multiple management issues concerning this region. The goal of this expedition was to recover benthic lander deployments, conduct mid-water trawling of the deep-scattering layer, collect water samples for christry and microbial diversity analyses, perform multibeam mapping at specific targeted areas, and collect sediment, water, and faunal samples for eDNA work.

This expedition is the first of three cruises for the Deep SEARCH project focused on exploring and characterizing seeps, corals, and canyon environments along the Atlantic margin. FY17-19 NOAA Ocean Exploration funds to support the DEEP Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral/Canyon/Cold seep Habitats (DEEP SEARCH) Project: DEEP SEARCH is an interagency collaboration NOPP project. BOEM initiated the work through its studies development plan and contracted TDI-Brooks International, Inc. through a competitive award process to conduct the research ($4000k approx. 3 year contribution); USGS identified five complementary research areas and will be supporting the participation of corresponding science teams on each expedition and contributing to the final study report ($4000k approx. 3 year contribution); NOAA Ocean Exploration has provided assets (ship, autonomous underwater vehicle or remotely operated vehicle) to support the research cruises, as well as the necessary expedition coordination, data management, and engagement support for each of those field efforts ($4000k approx. 3 yr contribution) for a total project value of approximately $12 million.

This project aims to meet BOEM's urgent science needs in the Mid- and South-Atlantic planning areas, and involves collaboration among three federal agencies: BOEM, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and the USGS. The primary goals of this cruise are as follows: Exploration of new sites and new areas within known sites, sampling of corals and associated fauna for biodiversity and biogeography, community sampling at seep and coral habitats, sediment sampling at soft sediment sites for biogeochemistry and diversity, collections of corals for live coral experiments, water sampling for water chemistry and microbial diversity, sediment, water, and faunal samples for eDNA work, geological observations and sampling for geomorphology, lander deployments.