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WAITT

EXPEDITIONS

We are proud to support cutting edge marine science around the world that strives for scientific discovery in order to bring awareness and policy protections. We embark on a wide range of projects that support topics from conservation biology and marine protected areas (MPAs) with a legacy of work in historical discovery through archeology. 

We maintain a strict open-data policy.

EXPEDITION
STATISTICS

240,000

65

74

miles traveled

countries

scientific expeditions

8,508

science dives

PAST

EXPEDITIONS

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Vanuatu

September 2023

We partnered with the Government of Vanuatu to conduct the largest nationwide assessment of Vanuatu’s coral reefs

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Tonga

August - September 2022

This expedition surveyed Tongan waters to evaluate impacts to coral reefs and fisheries following the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai eruption in January 2022.

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Maldives (2020)

January 2020

Led by the Maldives Marine Research Institute, the Waitt Institute, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, this expedition worked to better understand the health of the ocean environment across the archipelago.

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Galapagos to Cocos Island

March 2018

We teamed up with a coalition of partners from several countries to study an international high seas zone of special concern.

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Juan Fernandez

March 2017

The Waitt Foundation and National Geographic Pristine Seas conducted a scientific expedition to Chile’s Juan Fernández archipelago, focusing on Alejandro Selkirk Island and making dives at several sites near Robinson Crusoe Islands.

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Eastern Azores

September 2016

The Waitt Foundation teamed up with the Ocean Azul Foundation to conduct scientific dive surveys in the islands of the Azores.

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Curaçao

November 2015

The Waitt Foundation and the Waitt Institute supported an expedition to a potential new Blue Halo Initiative site, Curaçao, in the Lesser Antilles Islands.

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Albania

June 2015

We supported an expedition to collect and provide baseline survey information to the government of Albania in the hopes of advancing the creation of Marine Protected Areas

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Great Barrier Reef

December 2014

The Waitt Foundation partnered with the University of Queensland's Global Change Institute and Catlin Seaview Survey to survey areas on the Great Barrier Reef.

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Fiji Vatu-i-ra

March 2014

This Waitt Expedition with Wildlife Conservation Society’s Dr. Stacy Jupiter was a culmination of several previous expeditions studying the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape.

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Fiji

May - September 2023

Led by the Government of Fiji, Blue Prosperity Fiji conducted the largest nationwide assessment of coral reefs.

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Palau

January - February 2022

The Waitt Institute partnered with One Reef and Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s 100 Island Challenge to conduct a scientific expedition to learn about Palau’s reef health and resilience.

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Western Azores

June 2018

Working with the Oceano Azul Foundation, the University of the Azores, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas, we explored the islands of Faial, Pico, Sao Jorge, Flores and Corvo in the Azores.

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French Polynesia & Kiribati

August 2017

The challenge for this international team of volunteers was to survey coral reefs at a subset of atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, and revisit several islands in the Southern Line Islands, Republic of Kiribati.

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Cape Horn

February 2017

The Waitt Foundation and National Geographic Pristine Seas carried out a scientific expedition to the Magallanes region to study the marine ecosystems in its fjords and remote islands, and making recommendations to the government of Chile for their conservation and sustainable use.

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Cashes Ledge

June 2016

We continued our Blue Parks expedition, again hosting a team of scientists and photographer Brian Skerry aboard our expedition ship.

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Montserrat

October 2015

The Waitt Foundation and Waitt Institute supported an expedition to a new Blue Halo Initiative site, the Emerald of the Caribbean: Montserrat.

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Seychelles

March 2015

The Waitt Foundation and National Geographic’s Pristine Seas undertook an expedition to Seychelles to investigate, survey and explore these rare island gems.

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Solomon Islands

June 2014

We partnered with the Solomon Islands Community Conservation partnership to conduct scientific assessments in the Western Province.

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Vava'u, Tonga

February 2014

The Waitt Foundation joined with Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to conduct BIORAP scientific surveys of the island group of Vava’u in the Kingdom of Tonga.

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Samoa

September 2022

The Waitt Institute partnered with the Samoa Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and Conservation International to collect information on the status of Samoa’s coral reefs, fish populations, and water quality.

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Maldives (2021)

March - April 2021

The second Noo Raajje expedition set out to study the atolls of the Southern Maldives to create the first archipelago-wide assessment.

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Santa Elena

May 2018

Working with Mar Viva and scientists from the University of Costa Rica, Equipo Tora Carey, University Vèritas and Misión Tiburón, we conducted scientific surveys in support of filling protection gaps in both land and water based nature preserves.

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Tonga

June 2017

A team from the 100 Island Challenge joined our surveyors with one of their signature cameras; they will put together 3D datasets of photographic mosaics that will give researchers an unparalleled view into just exactly what life is on the reefs.

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Lesser Antilles

November 2016

The Waitt Institute and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography conducted a rapid scientific assessment of the coral reefs around the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

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Pulley Ridge

May 2016

Our research ship headed toward Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys with the goal of documenting the fauna and flora in the region in order to support recommendations for protections.

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Selvagens Islands

September 2015

The Waitt Foundation partnered with National Geographic’s Pristine Seas and their team headed up by explorer Paul Rose, for a 10-day expedition to the Selvagens Islands, south of Madeira in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean.

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Andaman Sea

January 2015

We teamed up with the Wildlife Conservation Society to work in Myanmar and the Andaman Sea in order to increase local capacity and establish baseline data collection.

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Fiji Sharks

April 2014

This Waitt Expedition's goals were to deploy Research Objective Cameras for insights on local populations and then attach satellite transponders to several sharks.

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New Caledonia

November 2013

This expedition was able to accomplish that most difficult of goals for this program, to study a reef free of the impact of man.

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