The scientific team of the ‘Deep Wonders of T&T and the Adjacent High Seas’ expedition on-board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) © Mónika Naranjo González / Schmidt Ocean Institute

For the first time in its history, Trinidad and Tobago's deep sea and adjacent high seas areas were explored by a team led by Caribbeanscientists. Two young scientists onboard, share what a month at sea actually looked like from their side of the boat.

Shauna Edghill during a ship-to-shore event © Schmidt Ocean Institute

Before the ROV SuBastian of the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel ever touched the deep waters of Trinidad and Tobago, Shauna Edghill was in classrooms and TV studios telling her country that most of its territory is underwater and almost entirely unexplored. This is what came next: ship-to-shore livestreams, late nights collecting and preserving deep-sea specimens, and a team that became family.

Kyle Foster during the ‘Deep Wonders of T&T and the Adjacent High Seas’ expedition on-board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) © Schmidt Ocean Institute

Kyle Foster spent a month at sea aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), exploring the deep waters of Trinidad and Tobago, split between two extremes of deep-sea technology, a multi-million-dollar ROV and a hand-deployable camera built for a fraction of the cost, and helped push the low-cost option to its deepest run yet: 2,240 metres.

In 2026, the DSCC will host a media and policy webinar series designed to equip journalists, governments, civil society and decision-makers with the facts, evidence, and context needed to navigate the deep-sea mining debate, and to cut through industry hype and misinformation.

In this Knowledge Hub feature, Viliame Kasanawaqa, a Doctoral Researcher at the Macmillan Brown Centre of Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury, examines how Pacific Peoples understand and relate to the deep ocean, and what is at stake as deep-sea mining advances.

Eugenia in the lab © Eugenia Thomas

In this special feature for the Knowledge Hub, Eugenia Thomas, a MPhil candidate at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, explores one of our ocean’s most fascinating ecosystems: deep-sea wood falls. These submerged fragments of forest create havens for life on the seafloor, fueling biodiversity and connecting distant habitats. Drawing from her pioneering research in the Caribbean, Eugenia explains how wood falls reveal information on deep-sea connectivity, resilience, and the linkages between land and ocean.

Deep-sea scavengers. Credit: MBARI Creative Commons

While there has been an avalanche of research and voices speaking out about the impacts DSM may have on the marine environment and natural heritage, less attention has been paid to the potential cultural heritage impacts.

Covering over 70% of the planet, the ocean is Earth’s largest life-support system, and it has already shielded us from the worst impacts of the climate crisis. It has absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat generated by burning fossil fuels, and about 30% of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions since the 1980s. Without this massive buffer, global temperatures would already be far higher than they are today. But the story doesn’t end at the surface. The deep ocean plays an especially critical role in climate regulation, carbon storage, heat transport, and many ways in which scientists are only beginning to fully understand.

© Digital DEPTH/Erika Gress

Black corals of the Order Antipatharia are amongst the oldest living animals on earth and are found at almost all ocean depths. In this Q&A marine scientist Erika Gress shares what makes black corals so special and the role they play in deep-sea environments.

Identifying and describing deep-sea species is a slow, complex process, often taking decades, and without a name, protecting them is even harder. The Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA) is working to change that by accelerating the description and protection of marine invertebrate species, including those from the deep sea, and raising awareness amongst scientists, decision-makers, and the public alike.