Schmidt Ocean

The world’s oceans understood through technological advancement, intelligent observation, and open sharing of information.

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

“Meanwhile, not idle, though unwatched by me,
The coral architects in silence reared
Tower after tower beneath the dark abyss.
Pyramidal in form the fabrics rose,
From ample basements narrowing to the height. . .”

#PoetryInOcean by James Montgomery, 1827
🪸 3331 m, #SamplingGap

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

ROV pilots recorded this living disco ball (ctenophore) at 1,292 m. The #SamplingGap sci team traveled to Romanche Fracture Zone, a 950-km transform fault in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, searching for (& finding) biodiversity hotspots & Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. 🪩🪩🪩

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

#SamplingGap highlights: An international science team collected the first visual observations of the Romanche Fracture Zone — a 950-km transform fault zone along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. https://t.co/EY28F6eMH6

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Commonly known as rattails, grenadiers have large blue eyes that can spot flickers of bioluminescence. They can also smell decaying organic matter & use their whisker-like chin barbels to detect tiny crustaceans and worms wriggling along seafloor. #SamplingGap, 1,580 & 3,326 m

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

To vanish: distract.

When danger is suspected, squid produce a large cloud of squidish-shaped ink called a pseudomorph, which literally translates to “false form." While the predator searches, the cunning squid evades capture.

#SamplingGap expedition

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

🪸A coral forest in the deep! 🪸
#SamplingGap sci team documented lush ecosystems along Romanche Fracture Zone, an active fault system along world’s longest underwater mountain range: the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Until this expedition, the area was widely thought to host very little.

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Our latest Science Story is live. This recurring series focuses on the humans behind the science, and this one dives into what inspired and motivates Dr. Gilberto Bergamo Neto. Check it out! https://t.co/lSWUwC8TrO

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

#SamplingGap team recorded this wily crustacean 4,300 m beneath the surface. During this expedition, scientists are documenting biodiversity along the Romanche Fracture Zone, an active transform fault that serves as a vital corridor between the eastern & western Atlantic basins

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

This #SamplingGap expedition video shares how scientists are documenting biodiversity along the Romanche Fracture Zone, an active transform fault that serves as a vital corridor between the eastern and western Atlantic basins. Check it out!

https://t.co/EsXOVgShcp

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

This year we're shining a spotlight on moments of growth and events that amplified the Ocean far and wide. Enjoy highlights & snapshots of our work to extend the impact of our seagoing science.

Thank you for exploring with us! https://t.co/ZHjdgPDVM4

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Sometimes the best home is . . . another animal!

Corals and taller animals extend into the water column where the food is & make great lodging. A tiny crustacean that lives in the upper branches of a coral has access to a steady stream of nutritious marine snow. #SamplingGap

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

In the midwater, between about 200 & 1000m, hunting comes naturally for animals that live in these dark waters. This comb jelly possesses long filaments w/ sticky cells called colloblasts, allowing them to ensnare unsuspecting snacks. #SamplingGap, 275 m

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Meet Planctoteuthis sp. 🦑

“Images have finally enabled the description of this tail, but no one knows what it is used for. It looks like a siphonophore from a distance, and one hypothesis is that it could be used for siphonophore mimicry.” — #SamplingGap Co-chief Sci Dr. Perez

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Join us on 28 Sept. for a rich discussion about seamount ecology, what scientists have learned so far, and what remains to be understood about underwater mountains in our Ocean.

Register: https://t.co/a6QCbIOJ2o

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Join us on 28 Sept. for a rich discussion about seamount ecology, what scientists have learned so far, and what remains to be understood about underwater mountains in our Ocean.

Register: https://t.co/a6QCbIOJ2o

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Siphonophore — the grizzly bear of squishy things. ROV pilots recorded this footage at 1589 meters during the 2025 #AsgardArchaea expedition in the deep waters of Uruguay. (Sound on to learn more.)

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

The one where a crab tries very hard not to be seen. 🦀

This school of fish was observed not observing a crab on the seafloor at 205 m. The #URUGUAYSUB200 science team was exploring near the head of La Paloma submarine canyon along the edge of the Uruguayan continental shelf.

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Fishy Fri: Bathypterois sp., tripod fish. Solitary & stationary, these deep-sea denizens perch, facing into the current, above the seafloor using specialized fin rays. When an unsuspecting copepod or other tiny crustacean drifts by, this animal is set to snack. #Doldrums, 2,040m

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

Squid vibes: #DeepWonders team encountered this cutie at 1,045 m. They marveled at the specialized cells in their skin, chromatophores — these tiny sacs that contain pigment. As a squid relaxes & contracts its muscles, it reveals or hides pigment for camouflage or communication.

[Schmidt Ocean @SchmidtOcean]

In this latest Science Story — a recurring series that focuses on the people behind the science — #SaltyStaircases Co-Chief Sci Dr. Selden shares what it is like to go to sea for the first time as a chief scientist and as a new mother.

https://t.co/5KwiXgnYiD