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In this feature, we spoke with some of Báslavi Cóndor Luján's students to learn more about their work exploring sponges, one of the ocean’s most overlooked but ecologically vital organisms.

At a glance, marine sediment might seem lifeless, just mud beneath the waves. But for James Fleming, postdoctoral researcher at JAMSTEC, that mud holds entire worlds.

Rising from the deep seafloor south of mainland Japan, the Shichiyo Seamounts, a dive site of the JAMSTEC Shinkai expedition, are part of a chain of underwater volcanoes formed by tectonic activity along the Izu–Ogasawara Arc.

The Nankai Trough, stretching along the southeastern coast of Japan, is one of the most geologically active and biologically important deep-sea regions in the western Pacific.

Twelve years after her first submersible dive, Dr Verity Nye has returned to Japan to descend once again aboard Shinkai 6500, the iconic submersible operated by JAMSTEC.

In June 2025, the JAMSTEC will collaborate with the Ocean Census, deploying the renowned submersible Shinkai 6500 on a 20-day scientific voyage into some of Japan’s most mysterious deep-sea ecosystems.

An Ocean Census Flagship expedition and GoSouth team of scientists found suspected new species, discovered one of the island chain’s shallowest hydrothermal vents, and explored the deepest trench in the Southern Ocean.

Two new amphipod species, Mayerella gabinorodriguezi and M. candelariae, are described from shallow coastal sediments in Sinaloa, Mexico. Their discovery represents the first records of Mayerella from Mexico’s Pacific coast, highlighting overlooked biodiversity in highly anthropised ecosystems.

In an astounding moment for ocean science, a juvenile Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni—the elusive colossal squid—has been captured alive on camera for the first time in its natural habitat.