Mysterious "Golden Orb" Identified by NOAA Scientists
The now two-and-a-half-year-old mystery of the "golden orb," an unidentified object that captured significant public interest when it was collected during a 2023 NOAA expedition, has finally been solved.Scientists have determined that the mysterious golden mass, discovered at a depth of 3,250 meters (over 2 miles) in the Gulf of Alaska, is a remnant of the dead cells that formed at the base of a giant deep-sea anemone, Relicanthus daphneae. It was the part of the anemone that attached to the rock substrate.During NOAA Ocean Exploration expeditions on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, it’s
Great Lakes Wildlife Film Project Includes Interactive Live Events
world of the Great Lakes. Building on their recent expansion into live, interactive exploration, Drebert and Melnick are inviting the public to join them in real time as they explore the depths with underwater drones on Hidden Below: LIVE.Last September, the team livestreamed their first major expedition to Superior Shoal — the largest freshwater underwater mountain on Earth.The next Hidden Below: LIVE event will take place at 10:00 am Eastern on Earth Day, April 22, broadcasting from one of the Great Lakes’ most visually mesmerizing and rarely seen locations: the waters surrounding
Ocean Discovery League Aims to Double Deep Seafloor Observations
focusing on locations that represent the true diversity of the seafloor, we can dramatically accelerate discovery while building a more inclusive and collaborative future for deep-sea science.”To support the initiative, ODL has launched an open-access interactive platform that allows researchers, expedition planners, and the public to explore the 10,000 targets and track progress as observations are completed.“By correcting for long-standing observational biases, such as disproportionate exploration near wealthy coastal nations or specific geological features, the approach provides a roadmap
Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust's 3D Model of Edurance to Go on Public Display
display at Discovery Point in Dundee.Arriving on April 30, 2026, the model will be unveiled as part of a special event featuring a talk by FMHT Founding Trustee and Director of Exploration, Mensun Bound. The event will offer visitors a rare, behind-the-scenes look at both Shackleton’s legendary expedition and the modern mission that finally found the ship.The model will remain on loan to the Dundee Heritage Trust throughout the Spring and Summer season until November 2026, the first time the model has been exhibited in Scotland. As the first major stop on its planned UK tour, its debut at Discovery
Memorial Stone Placed at Grave of Antarctic Pioneer Captain John King Davis
A new memorial stone and plaque have been placed at the grave of Captain John King Davis, one of the mostly highly decorated navigators and mariners in the history of Antarctic exploration.Davis served as Chief Officer under Ernest Shackleton during the British Antarctic Nimrod Expedition in 1907 and captained the SY Aurora during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911, led by Sir Douglas Mawson.Despite his contributions, Captain Davis’s grave at the Melbourne General Cemetery has remained unmarked since his death in 1967.Earlier this month, members of the ANARE Club, including President
Argentina’s Deep Sea Is More Biodiverse Than Scientists Thought
On an Argentinian-led science expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too), a science team observed stunning biodiversity along the country’s continental shelf. Traveling along the entire length of the coastline, from Buenos Aires in the north to an area offshore from Tierra del Fuego, the team documented the largest known Bathelia candida coral reef in the global ocean, several other rich reef complexes, and 28 suspected new species, including worms, corals, sea urchins, sea snails, and sea anemones.Deep-sea corals are slow-growing and long-lived. They are often classified
IMarEST Journey to Aral Sea Will Uncover Lessons from Central Asia’s Water Crisis
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) has awarded its David Henderson Inspiring Journey grant to Cadet Mohd Emaad Khan, from the Indian Maritime University in Kolkata. His expedition across Uzbekistan’s Aral Sea basin will uncover the lessons marine professionals can learn from one of the world’s most catastrophic ecological collapses. According to the United Nations, the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest inland sea, has shrunk to less than half its former size due to climate change and mismanagement. This July, Emaad will set out to
MBARI ROV Completes First Mission from New Research Vessel
The ROV Doc Ricketts has completed its first science mission from the new Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) research vessel David Packard.The three-day expedition last month involved collecting animals for MBARI’s Into the Deep / En lo Profundo exhibition – its newest exhibit and the largest collection of deep-sea animals in North America.The ROV can dive up to 4,000 meters (approximately 2.5 miles) underwater, and aquarium biologists were able to take advantage of the expanded capabilities of the David Packard to explore waters farther offshore at Sur Ridge, a deep-sea
2025: Fascinated with Subsea Discovery
renewables; dredging to subsea cabling; with emerging opportunities including carbon capture and storage.The catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five people in 2023 maintained reader attention in 2025. The Titan vanished during a descent to the Titanic wreck on a tourist expedition, losing contact with its support ship. After a tense four-day search, its shattered remains were discovered strewn across the seabed 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the wreck.It was a tragedy that could have been prevented, a US Coast Guard investigative board found in August, calling out
February 2026
