This summer, NOAA Ocean Exploration will conduct an expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to map, explore and characterize deep waters off the coast of the Cook Islands. The effort is in
This summer, NOAA Ocean Exploration will conduct an expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to map, explore and characterize deep waters off the coast of the Cook Islands. The effort is in partnership with the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority.
Using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), mapping technologies and onsite sensors, the team will explore abyssal plains and the Manihiki Plateau. Operations will include imaging and sampling the seabed and water column to compare a variety of deep-ocean habitat types.
The 28-day expedition will take place in July and August 2026. While the expedition is underway, ROV operations will be streamed online in real time, enabling shore-based scientists and the public to watch live video from the deep sea and hear experts discuss what they see and learn.
Data gathered during the expedition will be made publicly available and shared with the Cook Islands government to support the management of marine resources in the region.
This work will build on a NOAA-funded 2025 expedition conducted in the Cook Islands on Exploration Vessel Nautilus with the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority and the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.
The mission’s focus is on scientific exploration and environmental data collection in areas known to contain
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