Okeanos Explorer (EX2301): 2023 Shakedown + EXPRESS West Coast Exploration

From April 13-27, 2023 (Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington), NOAA Ocean Exploration conducted the 2023 Shakedown + EXPRESS West Coast Exploration expedition (EX2301), an ROV and Mapping expedition to a shakedown the remotely operated vehicle (ROV), video, telepresence, seafloor mapping, and sampling operations aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, as well as explore deep waters off the west coast of the United States. Operations during this 15-day expedition included the completion of 9 successful remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives, which were conducted in water depths ranging from 650 m to 3960 m for approximately 45:34 hours of bottom time and resulted in the collection of 92 samples.

This research used data collected during NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer expedition EX2301, led by NOAA Ocean Exploration. Taxonomic identifications provided by the Deep-sea Animal Research Center at University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Additional Data Resources:

Project website: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/expedition/ex2301/

Expedition report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/55891

Data was archived with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI): https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/okeanos-rov-cruises/ex2301/

Annotation dataset (provided by DARC) archived with NCEI: https://oer.hpc.msstate.edu/okeanos/ex2301/Eventlogs/VideoAnnotations-Version2/

Specimen/ Sample Data:

Sample records archived at NCEI: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/archive/arc0219/0283599/1.1/data/0-data/submersible/Submersible_Specimen_Data/EX2301_Cruise_Specimens.csv

Biological samples were sent to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (SNMNH): https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/iz/

Geological samples were sent to Oregon State University’s Marine Geological Repository: https://osu-mgr.org/noaa-ex

Water collected and filtered for eDNA analyses were sent to the SNMNH.

Sample catalog numbers: https://geome-db.org/record/ark:/21547/FjB2

NCBI bioproject: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/1285415

eDNA data in OBIS: https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=noaa-oer-okeanos-ex2301

Published: May 11, 2026 at 22:26

First registration: May 11, 2026 at 22:34

License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License

URL: https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=ex2301_videoannotationsandsamples