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National Geographic Society and Rolex Announce Ambitious Exploration Encompassing All Five Regions of the Global Ocean
New multiyear expedition builds on the National Geographic Society and Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Expeditions to reveal the fundamental impacts of marine systems change while generating innovative, community-driven solutions to protect our global ocean
Credit: Giacomo d'Orlando/National Geographic
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 3, 2025) — Today, the National Geographic Society and Rolex are proud to announce the launch of Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions — a series of trailblazing scientific research expeditions across the world’s ocean from seashore to seafloor and from pole to pole.
Supported by Rolex as part of its Perpetual Planet Initiative and anchored by National Geographic Explorers, the field research expeditions to all five ocean basins — the Arctic, Pacific, Southern, Atlantic and Indian — will integrate cutting-edge science and local ecological knowledge to examine the causes and impacts of marine systems change while developing bold and innovative solutions in collaboration with coastal communities.
“There is so much of the ocean that has yet to be studied,” says Ian Miller, chief science and innovation officer at the National Geographic Society. “Through our long-standing partnership with Rolex, we have launched groundbreaking scientific expeditions of mountain and rainforest systems and now, by investigating ocean systems change on a global scale, Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions will address critical gaps in our understanding of our planet’s largest ecosystem and develop solutions to protect it.”
The impact of the ocean on our world cannot be understated. Covering an estimated 70% of the Earth’s surface, the ocean provides roughly half of the planet’s oxygen, regulates the global climate, is a critical carbon sink, a vital source of food and medicine, makes up over 90% of the planet’s biosphere, and is an important economic driver.
Collaborating across the entire ocean, 20 National Geographic Explorers, along with educators, storytellers and coastal communities, are investigating an array of subjects including algae in sea ice, Antarctic krill, methane seeps, benthic communities, wildlife health, marine biodiversity and food webs, coral reef health, and coastal mangroves. Explorers and coastal communities will integrate scientific research and local ecological knowledge to advance conservation and protection solutions for a changing ocean.
In response to the urgent nature of the myriad issues facing the ocean, some of Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions’ work has already begun and will continue to expand as other projects get underway over the next two years.
- National Geographic Explorer and deep-sea expert Katy Croff Bell recently led a groundbreaking study, “How Little We've Seen: A Visual Coverage Estimate of the Deep Seafloor,” revealing that despite decades of deep-sea exploration, only 0.001% of the deep seafloor has been visually observed. Coastal communities on the frontlines of experiencing the effects of increasing sea surface temperatures, rising sea levels and stronger storm surges are often hindered by a lack of access to scientific research and data collection technologies. Approximately 87% of these coastal communities’ waters are deep ocean, and current technologies limit their ability to understand and manage the ocean resources at their doorstep. To fill this critical gap, Bell has developed low-cost, accessible deep-sea research and exploration systems and is collaborating with other Explorers and coastal communities worldwide to deploy them, thereby expanding the field of deep-sea exploration.
- National Geographic Explorers Aaron Micallef, Allison Fong, Andrew Thurber, Angelo Bernardino, Catherine Ribeiro, Cristian Lagger, Jane Younger, Kim Bernard and their team members conducted an interdisciplinary scientific examination of the region in and around the Southern Ocean’s Weddell Sea via a groundbreaking sea ice to seafloor transect over 21 days. The multidisciplinary team of 24 scientists, storytellers and educators with expertise in oceanography, marine ecology, climate science, geology, wildlife health and migration, and community-based conservation documented vital marine processes in this critical region. National Geographic Explorer and photographer Luján Agusti documented the expedition’s work, and Lyanne Abreu, an educator and Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, accompanied the expedition to help expand the reach of the scientific work into classrooms. Their observations will deepen our understanding of this ecosystem while informing conservation efforts. The expedition was conducted in collaboration with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, which provided National Geographic Explorers the opportunity to leverage the state-of-the-art tools and capabilities of the 110-meter global ocean-class R/V Falkor (too) during its maiden voyage to the Southern Ocean.
- Notable outcomes of this expedition include:
- Documentation of new landforms, life forms and wildlife behavior and habitats.
- First expedition to combine wildlife migration analysis with pathogen observations to study regional disease proliferation.
- First expedition to conduct a full genome profile of disease in Antarctic wildlife.
- Collection of one of the deepest samples of organisms, water and sediment from the Weddell Sea.
- Discovery of an 11-meter black smoker hydrothermal vent, and the discovery of a krill habitat at a hydrothermal vent.
- National Geographic Explorer Kristina Brown is working in the Sherman Basin, located in the Kitikmeot Sea in the southern Canadian Arctic, a region of critical importance to the marine food security of the local Inuit. Brown has been conducting oceanographic studies on board the Arctic Research Foundation’s R/V Martin Bergmann and is collaborating closely with the community of Gjoa Haven in an effort to inform best practices for sustaining food security in the face of a rapidly changing and warming Arctic.
- In the Pacific Ocean’s Cook Islands, National Geographic Explorer Anya Brown is investigating how certain corals remain resilient to heat stress while others don’t, and how corals may work together to boost overall heat tolerance in the reef system. She is working with local NGO Kōrero O Te `Ōrau to inform the restoration of Rarotonga’s reefs and increase their resilience to future coral bleaching events.
- National Geographic Explorer Sheena Talma is leading the first locally driven deep-ocean expedition in her home country of Seychelles. She will work with local and international collaborators to deploy custom-built deep-sea camera systems to collect critical marine wildlife data in key fishing areas within Seychelles’ waters. This groundbreaking research will inform sustainable fisheries management and deepen understanding of the region’s largely unexplored deep-sea ecosystems.
- National Geographic Explorers Margaret Awuor Owuor and Maiyai Taal Hocheimy will launch an expedition to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of The Gambia to investigate how a changing ocean is affecting the mangroves at the mouth of the Gambia River and their ability to provide food security and protection against the impacts of sea level rise for coastal communities. This multidisciplinary expedition, which includes ecosystem resource mapping and biodiversity studies, will represent one of the first oceanographic data gathering efforts for the Atlantic Ocean spanning the Gambian coastline.
- The Polynesian Voyaging Society has embarked on “Moananuiākea: Voyage for Earth” around the Pacific Ocean on their voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa and her sister canoe Hikianalia using traditional wayfinding techniques to foster fluency in ocean knowledge. National Geographic Explorers and navigators Nainoa Thompson, Lehua Kamalu and the crew will incorporate marine data collection into daily sailing protocols. The voyage provides a unique opportunity to leverage the canoes in bringing together local expertise of the island communities with cutting-edge scientific research tools throughout the vast Pacific waters to advance conservation and protection solutions for a changing ocean.
- National Geographic Explorer, storyteller and 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist Hannah Reyes Morales will document the lives of coastal communities, their local ecological knowledge, and their collaboration with Explorers to develop scientific and community-based conservation solutions.
The objectives and outcomes of the Perpetual Planet Ocean Expeditions will deepen our understanding of this essential ecosystem while generating powerful solutions in support of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
To learn more about Perpetual Planet Expeditions, visit: natgeo.org/perpetualplanetexpeditions
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About Perpetual Planet Expeditions
The National Geographic Perpetual Planet Expeditions program, a long-standing collaboration with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet Initiative, supports expeditions to explore the planet’s most critical environments. By harnessing world-renowned scientific expertise and cutting-edge technology that reveal new insights about the systems that are vital to life on Earth, these expeditions help scientists, decision-makers, and local communities plan for and find solutions to the impacts of climate and environmental change while illuminating the wonder of our world through impactful storytelling.
About Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative
As the 21st century unfolds, Rolex has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to protecting the planet and reinforced its commitment by launching the Perpetual Planet initiative in 2019. It supports individuals and organizations using science to understand the world’s environmental challenges and devise solutions that will restore balance to our ecosystems and safeguard the Earth for future generations.
The Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative for now focuses on three key areas: supporting individuals who contribute to a better world through the Rolex Awards for Enterprise; preserving the oceans, notably through the company’s association with Mission Blue; and understanding climate and environmental change through scientific expeditions as part of its enhanced association with National Geographic, a Rolex partner since 1954.
About The National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas, providing more than 15,000 grants for work across all seven continents, reaching 3 million students each year through education offerings, and engaging audiences around the globe through signature experiences, stories and content.
To learn more, visit www.nationalgeographic.org or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.
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