ScienceNews

(Image credit: ISA)

ISA Workshop Targets Deep-Sea Taxonomy Standards for Seabed Mining Oversight

Newly identified deep-sea amphipod, Caeconyx papso.

Deep-Sea Amphipod Discovery Highlights Abyssal Plain Biodiversity Gaps
Box core sample containing polymetallic nodules from American Samoa, 2026, from the American Samoa Mapping Project.

USGS Publishes Samoa Basin Expedition Report Detailing Deep-Sea Mineral and Sediment Box Coring Results
Dr. Silvina Botta (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande in Brazil) retrieves water samples from ROV SuBastian for stable isotope analysis—a chemical way to study how carbon moves through the ocean.

New Life Discovered Miles Beneath the Surface Off Brazil
During the 2025 Deep-sea Habitats of the Cook Islands expedition on Exploration Vessel Nautilus the team surveyed various seascapes to better understand seabed environments, and natural and mineral resources in the region. In this image, polymetallic nodules rest on sediment accumulated in a depression between rounded pillows and extended lobate lava flows, which are evidence of ancient volcanoes.

NOAA Scientists and Partners to Map Deep Waters and Seabed in the Cook Islands
Seastar on a polymetallic nodule.

New Scientific Review Assesses Impacts of Deep-Sea Mining
MV Anuanua Moana.

American Ocean Minerals Announces Research Vessel Deployment to Advance Deep-Sea Research
Image of geological samples from the seafloor that were collected via box core on April 14, 2026, in US waters off American Samoa.

NOAA Releases First Images of Nodules from Waters Near American Samoa

TMC Subsidiaries Submit Massive Deep-Sea Dataset to Public Database
Twenty-four new species of amphipod have been identified. (Image credit: NOC)

Twenty-Four New Deep-Sea Species Discovered in Major Pacific Research
The NOAA Ship Ranier conducts a seabed mapping exercise in the Pacific in 2022.

NOAA Ship to Map Potential Critical Mineral Deposits in US Waters of Pacific Ocean
Search