E/V Nautilus: 2024 Field Season

Field Season Overview

Between May and December 2024, Ocean Exploration Trust’s Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus will be used to explore deep-ocean habitats in the central, western, and eastern Pacific Ocean and integrate emerging exploration technologies into its operations. The 2024 Nautilus field season is sponsored primarily by NOAA Ocean Exploration through its Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI), with additional support from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Ocean Networks Canada.

This year's telepresence-enabled program includes seafloor mapping, remotely operated vehicle operations, and the ongoing integration of emerging technologies (an uncrewed surface vessel, autonomous underwater vehicles, and a lander) to help advance the pace and efficiency of ocean exploration. OECI-supported expeditions will explore waters in and around the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Jarvis, Howland, and Baker Islands), National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Guam. Each of OET’s expeditions is being planned and implemented in close collaboration and in consultation with local stakeholders and community members in the regions where the expeditions will be taking place.

Learn more about the individual expeditions and join in on the exploration in real time through livestreamed video from the deep ocean on Nautilus Live. Also, follow Ocean Exploration Trust on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X/Twitter for behind-the-scenes updates.

NOAA Ocean Exploration and the Ocean Exploration Trust have partnered to explore the world's ocean since 2001. NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer was developed alongside E/V Nautilus, and the two are operated in a similar manner, using telepresence to enable scientists, students, educators, and the public to follow operations and participate remotely from shore. Today, through its support for Nautilus via the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, NOAA Ocean Exploration continues to work with Ocean Exploration Trust to advance marine technologies, reduce uncertainties in critical parts of our largely unexplored deep ocean, and contribute to the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, Seabed 2030, and the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Header image courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust.

Published May 13, 2024