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Scientists aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor recently discovered and explored a hydrothermal field at 2,000 meters depth in the Gulf of California where towering mineral structures serve as biological hotspots for life. These newly discovered geological formations feature upside down ‘mirror-like flanges’ that act as pooling sites for discharged fluids. GULF OF CALIFORNIA, … Continued

Scientists aboard​ Schmidt Ocean Institute’s​ research vessel Falkor surveyed deep-sea seamounts outside Isla del Coco UNESCO World Heritage site revealing coral communities with surprising diversity. PUNTARENAS, COSTA RICA – A three-week expedition off the coast of Costa Rica has just expanded our knowledge of deep sea ecosystems in the region. Led by Dr. Erik Cordes, … Continued

Autonomous and interactive robotic seafloor mapping systems were used on an expedition aboard research vessel Falkor in the southern Gulf of California, leading scientists to a new hydrothermal vent field and enabling the discovery of new deep-sea organisms. SOUTHERN PESCADERO BASIN, GULF OF CALIFORNIA – A spectacular new hydrothermal vent field, named JaichMatt, has been … Continued

Researchers aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor used autonomous underwater robots, along with the Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian, to acquire 1.3 million high resolution images of the seafloor at Hydrate Ridge, composing them into the largest known high resolution color 3D model of the seafloor. Using unsupervised clustering algorithms, they identified dynamic … Continued

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – Using multiple autonomous vehicles simultaneously, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers returns to the United States after exploring the North Pacific  Subtropical front – a sharp boundary where cold fresh waters from the north meet warm salty waters from the south. The fronts are the most conspicuous oceanographic phenomena and … Continued

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – Scientists are a step closer to understanding what draws white sharks each spring to the “White Shark Café”, an offshore aggregation area halfway between Mexico and Hawaii in the Pacific. An interdisciplinary research team from five Institutions led by Stanford University Marine Biologist Dr. Barbara Block, has just completed a month-long … Continued

Scientists return on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor after conducting underwater robotic dives in never before visited waters in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). APIA, SAMOA – Seventeen underwater robotic dives have been made using ROV SuBastian, completing the first expedition of the islands and eastern seamounts of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area … Continued