Over the past two years, NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners have mapped approximately 267,500 square kilometers (103,300 ...

The deep scattering layer (or DSL) is a region in the water column where there is a high density of marine organisms that reflect sound. During World War II, technicians using the then newly invented ...

Light in the ocean decreases with depth, with minimal light penetrating between 200-1,000 meters (656-3,280 feet) and depths below 1,000 meters receiving no light from the surface. The importance of ...

The coloration of animals in the ocean follows a surprisingly regular pattern by depth, most likely tied to how light penetrates ocean water and an animal’s ability to blend in with its surroundings.

Looking out at the ocean, you often see a seemingly infinite series of waves, transporting water from one place to the next. Though waves do cause the surface water to move, the idea that waves are ...

Because corals are attached, taking root to the seafloor, people often think they are plants. Because many corals have hardened surfaces, they are sometimes mistaken as being rocks. However, unlike ...

Deep-sea fishes observed in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, depths 250–800 meters. Images are arranged by depth and are not to scale. Figure 6 from Gerringer et al. (2026), Observations of ...

The largest known sponge is about the size of a minivan. It was found in 2015 at a depth of 2,130 meters (7,000 feet). During NOAA Ocean Exploration’s 2015 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deepwaters off ...

Last week, the team aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer returned to port after spending a month mapping unexplored areas of the deep ocean. As you might expect, an expedition of that length brings back ...

When considering which deep-sea creature has the biggest teeth, the answer depends on what you mean by “biggest!” The fangtooth Anoplogaster cornuta has the biggest teeth of any ocean animal compared ...

Test and evaluate the operational use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to expand NOAA Ocean Exploration’s at-sea data collection capabilities From November 2-16, NOAA Ocean Exploration will ...

Cleat on the wood deck of USS Nevada seen during Dive 06 of the 2025 ROV and Mapping Shakedown expedition. The deep sea provides incredible opportunities for heritage preservation, including the ...