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The article presents the highlights of the exploration activities of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its partners using the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in the 2015 field season. Among the sites explored are in Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The activities include collecting vital deepwater environmental data that led to the creation of the first full-trench-depth conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data set.

The article presents the highlights of the telepresence-enabled exploration activities of the ship Okeanos Explorer owned by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as of early 2016. The ship's operation and maintenance are made through the partnership of NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. Among the activities of the ship are ocean mapping, and in situ site characterization.

The continental margin off the northeastern United States (NEUS) contains numerous, topographically complex features that increase habitat heterogeneity across the region. However, the majority of these rugged features have never been surveyed, particularly using direct observations. During summer 2013, 31 Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives were conducted from 494 to 3271 m depth across a variety of seafloor features to document communities and to infer geological processes that produced such features. The ROV surveyed six broad-scale habitat features, consisting of shelf-breaching canyons, slope-sourced canyons, inter-canyon areas, open-slope/landslide-scar areas, hydrocarbon seeps, and Mytilus Seamount. Four previously unknown chemosynthetic communities dominated by Bathymodiolus mussels were documented. Seafloor methane hydrate was observed at two seep sites. Multivariate analyses indicated that depth and broad-scale habitat significantly influenced megafaunal coral (58 taxa), demersal fish (69 taxa), and decapod crustacean (34 taxa) assemblages. Species richness of fishes and crustaceans significantly declined with depth, while there was no relationship between coral richness and depth. Turnover in assemblage structure occurred on the middle to lower slope at the approximate boundaries of water masses found previously in the region. Coral species richness was also an important variable explaining variation in fish and crustacean assemblages. Coral diversity may serve as an indicator of habitat suitability and variation in available niche diversity for these taxonomic groups. Our surveys added 24 putative coral species and three fishes to the known regional fauna, including the black coral Telopathes magna, the octocoral Metallogorgia melanotrichos and the fishes Gaidropsarus argentatus, Guttigadus latifrons, and Lepidion guentheri. Marine litter was observed on 81% of the dives, with at least 12 coral colonies entangled in debris. While initial exploration revealed the NEUS region to be both geologically dynamic and biologically diverse, further research into the abiotic conditions and the biotic interactions that influence species abundance and distribution is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]