September 2019: A team of ocean scientists and engineers from Lehigh University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution used NOAA Research Vessel R/V MANTA and the newly developed autonomous underwater vehicle Mesobot to collect environmental DNA in order to explore the biodiversity of deepwater ecosystems near Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

Fall 2019: capitalizing on existing hydrographic survey contract mechanisms through NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) and the National Oceanographic Partnership Program funded the geodata specialist company Fugro to conduct a survey in the Blake Plateau region off the coasts of Georgia and Florida.

October to November 2020: The deep sea is a vast reserve of mystery and possibility. The residents of the deep sea, and the minerals that compose its floor, are of growing importance to modern society. Microorganisms offer significant biopharmaceutical and industrial promises and some of deep-sea minerals are increasingly rare and in-demand.

June 2020: This expedition's objective is to add more information about the environment in which early Gulf coast inhabitants would have lived.

Nearly 60,000 years ago, a bald cypress forest flourished on the banks of a prehistoric river near the Gulf of Mexico. Now, a team of scientists from Northeastern University and the University of Utah, funded by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), are working to unlock the forest’s secrets, including its potential to harbor new compounds for medicine and biotechnology.

September 2020: In this expedition on Exploration Vessel Nautilus, we aim to explore how methane seeps interact with ocean systems and seek out expanding avenues in an ocean blue economy future.

July to August 2020: A team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in partnership with the National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science explored Wimble Shoals, located adjacent to Rodanthe, North Carolina, on Duke University’s Research Vessel Shearwater. The Wimble Shoals Project team was seeking to characterize the maritime heritage resources of Wimble Shoals in order to enhance our knowledge of coastal processes affecting cultural resources (shipwrecks) and the marine ecosystem off Hatteras Island.