The Unmapped Ocean

Migration routes2,025 journeys, 79 species
Key sitesFeeding, breeding, nesting
Stony coralsReef-builders, where recorded
Recorded lifeDensest sightings — and busiest coasts
Vents & seamountsOases on the seafloor
Undersea cablesSeabed we surveyed to lay wire on
Drifting floatsInstruments that never touch the bottom

Key points

Story linksHairlines joining places that share a story

Routes and sites: MiCO (Bentley et al. 2025) — CC0. Routes are modelled connections between real places, not individual tracks. Corals and recorded life: OBIS — CC BY-NC; both show where records exist, which is partly where people look. Borders and country names: Natural Earth 1:110m — public domain. Cable routes and landing points: TeleGeography — CC BY-NC-SA; routes are schematic, not survey lines. Float positions: Argovis, from the International Argo Programme — live where the network allows, otherwise the dated snapshot the panel names.

Sounding the ocean floor