NOC to Co-Lead Deep-Sea Sargasso Expedition as REV Ocean Unveils Maiden Voyage

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) will co-lead a major research expedition to the Sargasso Sea as part of REV Ocean’s newly announced Maiden Voyage Science Program.

This initial operational research season for the vessel consists of ten partner-led missions spanning the South Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The program launches in Rio de Janeiro in April 2027, alongside the UN Ocean Decade Conference, and runs into late 2028.

Professor Alex Rogers from the National Oceanography Centre will co-lead the REV Ocean Sargasso Sea Expedition (ROSE) alongside Prof. Dr. Reinhold Hanel of the Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, focusing research on one of the ocean’s least understood deep-sea environments. While the surface of the temperate to sub-tropical North Atlantic’s Sargasso Sea is well-studied, its deep pelagic and benthic ecosystems remain largely unexplored, creating a gap with direct implications for conservation planning.

The expedition aims to gather critical baseline data to support the designation of a network of large-scale marine protected areas and other effective spatial conservation measures under the international Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. The data will also provide knowledge for the Sargasso Sea Commission to consider regarding spatial conservation measures in the region’s Geographic Area of Collaboration.

Among the scientific priorities is investigating the spawning ecology of the European and American eel, both of which have declined sharply since the 1980s and are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Researchers will target the presumed spawning zone where the youngest larvae have previously been discovered. Additionally, the expedition will survey abyssal seafloor habitats, deep pelagic communities, and the seamount ecosystems north of Bermuda, including sites heavily impacted by historical fishing, to assess biodiversity, community connectivity, and signs of ecological recovery.

Three of the ten missions target seamount ecosystems off Brazil and in the Sargasso Sea, while another will establish biodiversity baselines at coral reefs and hydrothermal vents in the Galápagos. Scientists will also investigate shark and whale migratory routes alongside unexplored abyssal ecosystems across the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Each mission is developed with regional partners, including universities, conservation organisations, United Nations bodies, and regional authorities.

The research and expedition vessel is designed to function simultaneously as a convening platform. A boardroom, auditorium, and meeting spaces sit steps away from the laboratories, allowing scientists, policymakers, sectoral and governance authorities, and decision-makers to meet directly alongside the fieldwork.

Silje Ulvestad, Interim CEO and COO of REV Ocean, said, “REV was built to close critical gaps in ocean knowledge — but what makes it different is what becomes possible when you bring the right people on board. Scientists, policymakers, decision-makers: standing in the same room, looking at the same data, feeling the same ocean. That’s how knowledge becomes action.”

Dr. Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Science Director at REV Ocean, added, “This program brings together leading regional ocean scientists working on questions that are directly relevant to how we understand and manage the ocean. Across ten missions, teams will investigate deep-ocean ecosystems, blue carbon habitats, and approaches to training early career scientists. The science is rigorous, the partnerships are built on long-term relationships, and the data we generate will have practical use well beyond the time we spend at sea.”

All data from the science program will be shared through the Ocean Data Platform (ODP) and other relevant platforms to ensure findings remain accessible to partners, policymakers, and researchers after each mission ends.

Dr. Jose Angel Alvarez Perez, Professor at Universidade do Vale do Itajaí (UNIVALI), added, “The Vitória-Trindade Ridge is a prominent but poorly understood seamount system in the Southwest Atlantic, with high conservation value. Working with REV Ocean gives us ship time and technology to map habitats, document biodiversity and generate the baseline data needed to inform ongoing protection decisions. This is a collaboration between Brazilian researchers and international partners that would be difficult to replicate any other way.”