In 2023, a series of expeditions will help NOAA and partners to better understand the diversity and extent of ecologically important seafloor communities in the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska.
NOAA scientists and collaborators have found rare deep-sea sponge mounds between two of California’s most explored marine protected areas, signifying how vast and mysterious our ocean truly is.
From coast to coast, college seniors and recent graduates contribute to NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program research goals through unique projects.
The four-year Alaska Deep-Sea Coral and Sponge Initiative is part of an effort to improve our understanding of deep-sea coral communities and aid resource managers in developing and evaluating management options for these valuable habitats.
In May 2014, scientists and resource managers representing stakeholders from government, academia, and conservation groups met in Honolulu, Hawaii, to identify critical information needs for deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems.
Here, we investigate the a method of monitoring sponges with results suggesting COI metabarcoding is capable of capturing sponge richness from a complex natural community.
In a newly published paper, scientists identified and named a new genus and species of sponge: Advhena magnifica. It was sampled and seen during missions in the Pacific on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.