SBMA Knowledge Management team prepares for 2026 Cook Islands ROV Exploration aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
The Seabed Minerals Authority’s Knowledge Management team is preparing to take part in the 2026 Cook Islands ROV Exploration aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, a 26-day scientific cruise taking place from 19 July to 13 August 2026 in deep waters off the Cook Islands.
The research cruise is a partnership between NOAA Ocean Exploration, the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority, and other United States and Cook Islands partners. Its primary goal is to map, explore, and characterise ecologically and economically important deepwater regions of the Cook Islands, including areas that remain largely unexplored.
Further information on the 2026 Cook Islands ROV Exploration is available on the NOAA Ocean Exploration expedition page. Use the NOAA expedition page link here: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/expedition/ex2605/
For SBMA, the cruise is an important opportunity to strengthen national knowledge of the Cook Islands’ deep ocean environment, including the seafloor, water column, deep-sea habitats, and resources that sit within our wider ocean space.
The Cook Islands is a nation of 15 islands surrounded by nearly 2 million square kilometers of ocean.
Much of this ocean is deep, with average water depths within the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone around 5,000 meters. Many areas remain difficult to access and are poorly understood.
The examination will help close some of these knowledge gaps through remotely operated vehicle dives, seafloor mapping, water column observations, Argo float deployments, and other oceanographic tools. The expedition will use NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and remotely operated vehicles Deep Discoverer and Seirios to explore deepwater areas at depths ranging from about 2,500 to 6,000 meters.
SBMA’s Knowledge Management team will participate in two rotating teams during the expedition. Chloe Ane Wragg and Tanga Morris Jr. will join the first two weeks of the cruise. Following the vessel’s refueling stop in Aitutaki, the second team, Dr. John Parianos and Rima Browne, will assist with the final week and help conclude SBMA’s participation at sea.
Their involvement will support SBMA’s continued work to build Cook Islands’ capability in data management, environmental understanding, deep-sea science, and seabed minerals knowledge. It will also provide direct exposure to how mapping, ROV operations, ocean observations, and scientific collaboration are carried out on board a major research vessel.
SBMA’s Knowledge Management Division
L-R: Rima Browne, Dr. John Parianos, Tanga Morris Jr. and Chloe Ann Wragg
SBMA Commissioner Beverly Ataera said this voyage is an important part of strengthening the Cook Islands’ own understanding of its deep ocean.
“Much of our ocean remains unseen and not well understood. This cruise gives the Cook Islands an opportunity to learn more about our deep-sea environments through direct scientific exploration and collaboration. For SBMA, having our Knowledge Management team on board supports the work we are doing to build national capability and ensure Cook Islands decision-making is informed by evidence.”
This cruise will focus on geology, deep-sea biology, and the water column. This includes mapping seamounts, abyssal plains, and the Manihiki Plateau, imaging and documenting deep-sea animals, and collecting information that can help describe ocean conditions at different depths.
The trek will also use telepresence technology, allowing shore-based scientists and members of the public to follow dive operations online. Subject to operational conditions, dives are expected to be streamed live daily from 20 July to 11 August, giving Cook Islanders and wider audiences the opportunity to see parts of the deep ocean that few people have ever observed.
Members of the public can follow live video from NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer through the NOAA Ocean Exploration livestream page. Use the livestream page link here: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/livestreams/
Data collected during the cruise will support Cook Islands-led decision-making and will be provided to the Cook Islands Government to be made publicly available.
For SBMA, the 2026 Cook Islands ROV Exploration is another step in building the knowledge base needed to understand, manage, and conserve the Cook Islands’ deep ocean environment. The Authority says this work reflects the importance of science, transparency, and national capability as the country continues through the exploration and research phase of the seabed minerals sector.
This cruise is also a significant opportunity to recognize the vessel’s valuable seafloor mapping contribution to the Cook Islands’ Extended Continental Shelf journey for the Manihiki Plateau. The successful outcome secured sovereign rights over approximately 350,000 square kilometres of seabed and subsoil beyond our Exclusive Economic Zone and became an enduring part of Cook Islands history”.
The cruise runs from 19 July to 13 August 2026.
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer docking at Avatiu Harbour
For further information or media queries, please contact: sbma.media@cookislands.gov.ck