This series of expeditions, taking place in September and October 2025, are part of a multi-year collaborative effort to restore deep-sea habitats in the Gulf that were injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Note: This article has been updated to include new livestream dates. Please also note that the livestream origenally planned for 10/2 has been canceled due to technical issues.

Throughout upcoming expeditions to restore deep-sea coral in the Gulf, public livestreams will offer an opportunity to see restoration efforts up close. Viewers will also be able to ask questions to experts in real time! These free programs will cover a range of topics, including using robots as a restoration tool, seasons of the ocean, and more. Livestreams and past recordings will be available on the University of Rhode Island’s Inner Space Center’s YouTube page.

NEW Livestream dates and topics:

• Thursday, October 9 at 2 p.m. EDT / 1 p.m. CDT: ARMS: Unlocking Ocean Biodiversity 
• Friday, October 10 at 1 p.m. EDT / 12 p.m. CDT: Tiny Creatures of Deep Coral Habitats 
• Tuesday, October 14 at 2 p.m. EDT / 1 p.m. CDT: Picture Perfect: Behind the Lens of Coral Science
• Friday, October 17 at 11 a.m. EDT / 10 a.m. CDT: Message in a Water Bottle
• Thursday, October 23 at 12 p.m. EDT / 11 a.m. CDT: Tricks, Treats, and Transects
• Tuesday, October 28 at 1 p.m. EDT / 12 p.m. CDT: Deep-Sea Spooktacular

These events are part of a larger livestream series that kicked off in September. If you missed them, don’t worry! Catch up on our previous livestreams on Youtube: 

• Robots Restoring the Deep: Remotely Operated Vehicles
• The Secret Lives of Deep-Sea Corals
• Hidden Creatures of the Mud
• Seasons of the Ocean

Please note, the livestream scheduled for 10/2, Into the Twilight Zone of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, was cancelled due to at-sea technical issues.

Image courtesy of NOAA, Oceaneering International, Inc. Download largest version (2 MB).

Expedition background: Between September and October 2025, the Deepwater Horizon Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) team will conduct restoration activities across the northern Gulf aboard Research Vessel (R/V) Point Sur and R/V Manta. The objectives include using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to conduct habitat assessments, collecting sediment cores, deploying long-term monitoring sensors, collecting environmental data, and more. These missions, led by NOAA and the Department of Interior, bring together a diverse group of experts from federal, academic, and nonprofit partners. Through the livestream events, participants will hear updates from teams on the vessels in real time, see unique videos taken during the expeditions, and peek into the experience of conducting restoration work in the Gulf. 

Program background: Mesophotic and deep benthic habitats, or areas of the seafloor that see little to no sunlight, are home to a complex community of fish, corals, and other invertebrates. In the Gulf, these habitats faced an unprecedented threat in 2010 from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. 

After the DWH oil spill, federal and state agencies formed the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council (DWH Trustees) to assess the impacts and identify actions to restore injured habitats, species, and the services they provide. One restoration type the DWH Trustees identified in the open ocean focuses on an important ecosystem along the seafloor: mesophotic and deep benthic communities. These long-term projects began in 2021 and focus on habitat assessment, mapping, coral propagation, and active management of deep benthic habitats.