OceanX

📣 Attention Teachers and Educators OceanX Education's live classroom video calls are back. This March, we are excited to invite educators of primary to secondary school students around the world to sign up for 30-min Classroom Connect sessions live from the OceanXplorer. Students will have the unique opportunity to learn about the ocean – why it's important and how technology has enabled us to explore it. Importantly, students will also be able to ask questions and interact with a team member aboard the research vessel in real time via Zoom. View all available dates/times and register for Classroom Connects here, https://lnkd.in/eE8-USJX If you have any questions about Classroom Connects, please feel free to reach out to education@oceanx.org.

📢 Announcing our newest cohort of Young Explorers! Join us in welcoming the next generation of ocean leaders from across the African continent who are stepping aboard OceanXplorer today for an immersive journey into marine science, vessel operations, and digital storytelling. From hands-on workshops to creating compelling ocean stories, our Young Explorers will gain the skills needed to drive ocean conservation and leadership forward. This is more than an adventure – it's the beginning of their journey to protect and preserve our oceans for future generations.

RP FLIP is a one-of-a-kind research platform that can flip itself vertically in the middle of the ocean. Nearly retired for good in 2023, it was saved by the team at DEEP, who have big plans to transform it into a next-generation ocean research platform. But first, they must get it from Mexico to France—possibly flipping it one last time before its makeover. Join the OceanX team as we uncover the incredible engineering behind RP FLIP and follow its journey to Europe for its next chapter in ocean exploration! Watch the full length video on our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/eYuSjxaT Curious to learn more about DEEP? Check them out here: www.deep.com

OceanX and the French Embassy (France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi) recently hosted a Blue Talk event aboard OceanXplorer in Cape Town, South Africa. This talk is one of several that will happen in Southern Africa leading up to the third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC III) to be held in Nice, France this June. Policymakers, scientists and industry leaders were brought together to discuss awareness and commitments on ocean protection and sustainable blue economy initiatives in Africa. 📸 Vincent Pieribone, Co-CEO and Chief Science Officer of OceanX, gives opening remarks for the Blue Talk. 📸 Blue Talk attendees arrive on the deck of the OceanXplorer, getting an up close view of our two submersibles. 📸 Dion George, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment of South Africa and Martin Visbek, CEO of OceanQuest, discuss the ROV with OceanX’s ROV Pilot, Andrew Craig.

Calling all Young Explorers 🌊 The future of ocean storytelling is here - and it's aboard the OceanXplorer! OceanX Education is seeking innovative creators and technologists to join the next generation of immersive storytellers who will revolutionize how the world experiences and connects with science and our ocean! As a Young Explorer in 2025, you'll work alongside the OceanX team to pioneer groundbreaking ocean narratives using AR, VR, and mixed reality. Transform real-time marine research into immersive experiences that transport audiences to the ship and beyond. During your time onboard, you'll gain invaluable experience in: 🎥 Virtual Production at Sea 🌐 AR/VR Content Development 📱 Mixed Reality Prototyping 🤝 Immersive Storytelling Network Who can apply: ▶️ Students 18-24 ▶️ Fields: XR Development, Interactive Media, Game Design, Digital Arts, or related disciplines ▶️ Passion for using emerging technologies to create compelling ocean narratives and inspire conservation Rolling applications are now open! https://bit.ly/OXEdu_YEP

From studying the plankton, to mapping seamounts, to researchers experiencing their first submersible dive, this has been an eventful start to our Around Africa Expedition with OceanQuest. An exciting highlight of the expedition so far is we’ve mapped not only Walter’s Shoal, revealing a massive submarine landslide on the seamount, but we’ve also created the first high-resolution map of a second seamount south of Walter’s Shoal along the Madagascar Ridge. This second seamount was known to researchers, but it had not been mapped in entirety before and our ROV was deployed for the first-ever visual survey of it. OceanXplorer is now headed into Cape Town for shoreside events. Even in transit though, ocean research never stops as we’ve continued launching NOAA buoys as part of the Global Drifter Program. Each buoy measures air pressure over the ocean and measures sea surface temperature. This data is sent to satellites to update researchers on the weather in real time. 📸 Scientist Jordan Van Stavel and OceanX crew commence a Zooplankton net tow from the aft deck of the OceanXplorer. 📸 Scientist Brishan Kalyan inspects and rinses the phytoplankton net from the recent net tow. 📸 Scientist Jody - Carynn Oliver prepares water sample filter for collection in the wet lab onboard. 📸 Scientists Sinothando Shibe and Dr. Lara Atkinson hold up the South African flag before their submersible dive. 📸 OceanX submersible on the surface of the ocean preparing to descend near Walter’s Shoal. 📸 OceanX ROV pilot Ewan shows scientist Thabo Mbuyazi the ropes of how to lower the ROV. 📸 Hugh Barker, OceanX’s Science Technology Officer, monitors the CTD. 📸 OceanX crew come commemorate the launch of the 3rd NOAA buoy. 📸 Scientists Doreen Walter Mushi and Amina Makori listen to the NOAA buoy ID details presented by OceanX’s Science Program Director, Mattie Rodrigue. 📸 One of the twenty NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration buoy deployments as part of the Global Drifter Program.

The depths of the Red Sea have unlocked a clearer picture of Earth’s history. In his new paper, Dr. Sam Purkis analyzes the deep sediment cores taken from a brine pool that show the rainfall patterns from 1,600 years ago. Heavy rainfall can trigger floods on land, pushing sediment onto the seafloor. Usually, burrowing ocean creatures disrupt these seabed layers though making it difficult to reconstruct the years of past floods. However, brine pools are highly salty, underwater lakes in the ocean. They are anoxic, meaning there is not enough oxygen for life to live in them. Without burrowing creatures, the layers from ancient floods remain undisturbed, allowing Dr. Sam Purkis to decipher the different layers from sediment cores. The layers show that Arabian rainfall just 400 hundred years ago was 5 times more intense than present day, supporting the idea that lions and leopards lived in the Arabian desert due to the wetter climate. And that the modern era is 2.5 times drier than the last 1,600 years. These and other insights from the cores are important for understanding future hydroclimate forecasts. The bottom of the Red Sea also tells a story of unexpected resilience. A new paper from PhD student Morgan I. Chakraborty challenges the notion that the Red Sea was sterile and barren during the last glacial sea-level lowstand. Over 20,000 years ago, the Red Sea’s sea level was 110 meters lower and had incredibly high levels of saline due to the decrease in water. It was believed that marine life couldn’t survive in these conditions and went extinct before recolonizing 15,000 years ago. Morgan I. Chakraborty Uranium-Thorium dated several deep-water corals fossils in the Red Sea and found that some were growing nearly 18,000 years ago, suggesting that life in the Red Sea persisted when the sea-level was low. The findings help our understanding of how marine ecosystems remain resilient and survive in extreme conditions. If you’re interested in learning more about these Red Sea discoveries, please dive into their newly published papers. Sam J. Purkis et al. ,A 1600-year record of extreme rainfall in northern Arabia.Sci. Adv.11,eadq3173(2025).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adq3173 https://lnkd.in/gwaeaXYt Chakraborty, Morgan I., et al. "Deep-Water Corals Indicate the Red Sea Survived the Last Glacial Lowstand." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 122, no. 8, Feb. 2025, Article e2415559122. https://lnkd.in/eW7yZdac

OceanXplorer is on its way to Africana seamount just north of the Agulhas Plateau. We’re accomplishing a few mission objectives as we continue operations during our 2 week transit to Cape Town, South Africa. The science team is pleased with collecting over 200 samples from the ROV and subs and hope to acquire more at Africana seamount. The survey team continues to work around the clock to bring us the best and accurate information on the seamount as we prepare for more operations. The deck and interior team regularly launch drifter buoys as part of NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Global Drifter Program. All data collected from these drifter buoys around the world are free to access. Please check it out! https://lnkd.in/eGaDtZsR

RP FLIP is a one-of-a-kind research platform that can flip itself vertically in the middle of the ocean. Nearly retired for good in 2023, it was saved by the team at DEEP, who have big plans to transform it into a next-generation ocean research platform. But first, they must get it from Mexico to France—possibly flipping it one last time before its makeover. Join the OceanX team as we uncover the incredible engineering behind RP FLIP and follow its journey to Europe for its next chapter in ocean exploration! Watch the full length video on our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/eYuSjxaT Curious to learn more about DEEP? Check them out here: www.deep.com

It’s all engines “go” on the OceanXplorer as we’ve continued to explore the Walters Shoal seamount. So far we’ve done 5 ROV dives, 3 submersible ops, 2 net tows, 8 CTD casts, and continuous 24 hour mapping. With our friends from OceanQuest, South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) and KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) we were able to conduct a livestream onboard for high schoolers and educators in the SAEON Egagasini office in Cape Town, South Africa. With education offshore outreach initiatives like this, we are bringing learners closer to the deep sea and closer to understanding the waters of Walters Shoal.