Dear colleagues, partners, and friends,

I’m excited to share our second OceanX annual report having recently returned from our new vessel, OceanXplorer, as it explored the Azores for the "OceanXplorers" TV series co-produced by OceanX Media, BBC Studios Natural History Unit, and James Cameron for National Geographic. It’s both surreal and humbling to be aboard this vessel, experiencing its one-of-a-kind exploration and media capabilities as they go from years-long dream to reality.

Launching OceanXplorer was a gargantuan task and our most significant milestone in 2020. Not only did it mark the beginning of a new era, it was executed by a tremendous team in the midst of a global pandemic. After setting sail in September, OceanXplorer made a bee-line for the Red Sea for a historic inaugural mission: the first-ever detailed marine survey of the Northern Red Sea. Over a month of research, our incredible team made startling discoveries, many of which will be announced in the coming months. The Northern Red Sea is largely unexplored, and without our collaboration with our Saudi Arabian partners from NEOM and the KAUST Institute, it would have stayed that way.

From the Red Sea, OceanXplorer dashed across the Atlantic, navigating enormous swells before making a pit stop in New York City, where it was introduced to the world live on Good Morning America. After its TV debut, the ship headed south to the Caribbean to prepare for the arrival of the team for “OceanXplorers.” Our biggest mission to date, this global multi-platform series perfectly represents the OceanX mission: to connect daring scientists and adventurers with incredible marine technology and inspire audiences around the globe.

We hope you enjoy the below sampling of just some of what we’ve been up to, and if you want to dive even deeper, there’s tons of content from past missions on our Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. If what you see inspires you, please get in touch—we’d love to partner with you.

Mark Dalio

PS- If you’d like a preview of what we’ve been up to, Good Morning America featured OceanXplorer in a segment while it was in the Azores last month. The ship recently completed a journey to Norway with a very special group of young explorers on board—members of our inaugural Young Explorers Program, part of our efforts to increase ocean awareness and opportunities in marine fields for young people of all backgrounds; we also recently launched a partnership with Crayola that will bring OceanX content to Crayola Experience centers across the US. 

i. The launch of OceanXplorer

ii. A new series with National Geographic

iii. Bringing discoveries to social and digital

iv. Revealing secrets in the Red Sea

v. The power of partnerships

A petroleum survey ship turned exploration vessel, OceanXplorer is designed to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and tell the story of the ocean in captivating ways. With media-optimized deep sea vehicles, chemical and biological sampling tools, and a centralized data integration system and media center, OceanXplorer combines the kinds of best-in-class technologies you’d find in both an advanced research institute and a Hollywood film studio.

The ship’s production capabilities and underwater optical modem—developed in partnership with renowned filmmaker and ocean explorer James Cameron—enable us to live stream from the subs to viewers back on land.

In the years ahead, we aim to fully utilize these unique capabilities to bring about a revolution in ocean discovery and awareness.

[Watch] How We Explore The Oceans

The New York Times: A New Ship's Mission, Let The Deep Sea Be Seen

National Geographic: See Inside A Marine Science Laboratory Unlike Any Other: The OceanXplorer

Using the series as a base, OceanX is building several programs to accelerate impact and expand audiences through live classes off the ship, original digital series, social media updates, virtual and real world experiences, VR/AR, and other activations designed to drive positive changes that protect our oceans for generations to come.  

Our programs will focus on six key themes:  Marine Protected Areas, Coral, The Deep, Sustainability, Human Impact/Climate Change, and Marine Mammals.

There are many opportunities to participate in OceanXplorers: IMPACT programming, and we look forward to working with both new and ongoing partners to continue to bring this initiative to life.

Through a historic collaboration between Saudi Arabian institutions and OceanX, we led the first-ever comprehensive exploration of the region, ranging from deep sea to shallow reefs, from oceanography to microbiology and from mapping to genetics.

Over 960 hours of exploration and 41 days of submersible & ROV dives, we documented countless reasons why the area is an invaluable ecosystem deserving of special care through marine protected areas and management.

We shared our discoveries with international leaders at the G-20 through a video supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies' Vibrant Oceans Initiative and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

[WATCH] Will these corals help us save the world's reefs?

High resolution 3D map of deep seabed

Discovered deep sea pinnacles, canyons & brine pools

Provided proof of a diversity of megafauna (sharks, swordfish, turtles, whale sharks)

Recorded rich biodiversity of corals, fishes and mesophotic reefs

Detailed surveys of three unexplored islands

152 sightings of megafauna

Identified critical habitat for vulnerable species

Extended known range of over 20 species

Recorded over 535 hours of footage (mostly 8K)

NOAA joins OceanX to advance ocean exploration and mapping, a collaboration designed to improve public understanding of the ocean.

“NOAA is forging new partnerships such as the one with OceanX to accelerate our mission to explore and characterize the ocean, understand its key role in regulating our weather and climate, and sustainably manage and use its valuable resources to power the American Blue Economy." - NOAA

Along with The Paradise Foundation, a nonprofit environmental conservation organization based in China, we have announced a formal multi-year partnership to distribute OceanX’s cutting-edge media content to audiences across China. We'll work together to co-produce augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) content captured aboard OceanXplorer.

“At OceanX, we are on a mission to explore the ocean and bring it back to the world, and we love working with others who can help us create one big wave of global interest in and support for our oceans.” - Ray Dalio, co-Founder

We have partnered with Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute to advance cutting-edge ocean exploration, marine conservation and scientific research. The partnership will bring together the advanced genomic capabilities of GMGI with the sophisticated exploration, media and storytelling abilities of OceanX.

“We are ecstatic to be pursuing a partnership with Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, an organization dedicated to addressing the challenges facing our oceans, human health and the environment through groundbreaking scientific research.” - Vincent Pieribone, Vice Chairman

Ocean preservation is at the core of the missions undertaken by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation since its inception in 2006, from coral reef conservation to the development of Marine Protected Areas. Thanks to the collaboration with OceanX, scientific missions will be conducted to better understand and protect the ocean and its ecosystems.

“The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is really proud to partner with the Dalio family whose passion and talent for showcasing the treasures of the sea is a real added value to inspire people and raise awareness.” - The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation