A submersible diving under water, looking at coral

Expeditions

ON THE FRONTLINES OF THE CLIMATE & BIODIVERSITY CRISES

Overview

Ocean Census is at the heart of a network of expeditions undertaken by partners from different research institutes, government, philanthropic organisations, civil society and citizen science initiatives.

Our shared purpose is to discover ocean life from the surface to full ocean depth. We use vessels from the philanthropic, government and commercial fleets and deploy a combination of advanced subsea technologies with divers, submarines and deep-sea robots.

All those involved in the discovery of ocean life for the common benefit of humankind are invited to join the Alliance of expedition partners.

Types of Expedition

Flagship Expeditions

Species discovery expeditions funded and undertaken by Ocean Census, sometimes in collaboration with Partners.

Partner Expeditions

Partners building in species discovery as part of planned expeditions, with the support of Ocean Census.

Participant Expeditions

Ocean Census scientists and media specialists may be invited to participate in expeditions in order to profile species discovery.

Citizen Science Expeditions

Shore and sea-based programmes undertaken by the public and civil society to discover ocean life.

Current expedition

A ship named "Kronprins Haakon" in the ocean in the arctic

Barents Sea, Arctic

29 April to 10 May 2023

The first expedition Ocean Census joined was the ‘AKMA3’ cruise, led by the University of Tromsø (The Arctic University of Norway), with collaborators REV Ocean.

Our taxonomists participated to discover life living on the seafloor, including around methane-rich, cold seeps at depths of 100m to 500m.

Species discovery focused on soft corals, glass sponges, sea pens, anemones, echinoids, polychaetes, brachiopods, crustaceans, nematodes and copepods.

Dive deeper

Dolphins swimming underwater in the ocean

Partner with us

Align with Ocean Census as an official project
Participate in or partner with an Ocean Census expedition
Invite taxonomists from the Ocean Census Science Network to join your expedition
Speak to us about the Ocean Life Media Centre and ways that we can help to tell your story
Collaborate with us on marine operations, from vessels to subsea technology deployment and development

Get in touch