NOAA Ocean Exploration
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On Thursday, August 20, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer left Rarotonga in the Cook Islands to begin a 29-day expedition to map and explore deep waters in and around American Samoa. During the expedition, the mission team will conduct remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, dives...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners will conduct two expeditions in waters around American Samoa this summer and fall to map and characterize the deep seafloor in the nation’s highest-priority region for offshore critical mineral exploration.
The expeditions will...

![Waves crash over the bow of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as the vessel moves through waters of the Cook Islands during the 2026 Cook Islands ROV Exploration cruise. [photo: NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2026 Cook Islands ROV Exploration] WAVES OVER THE BOW OF Okeanos Explorer](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/waves-over-bow.jpg?itok=tRNL7i7x)
![The remotely operated vehicle, Deep Discoverer, imaging the seafloor off American Samoa during an expedition in 2017. Two expeditions in waters around American Samoa by NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners are scheduled for August through October this year to map and characterize the deep seafloor for offshore critical mineral exploration. [Image credit: NOAA OER] Deep Discoverer](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/d2-american-samoa-2017.jpg?itok=DSCVjqUu)