In 2022 and 2023, the NOAA Ship Rainier set course for months-long journeys to the western Pacific Ocean so the researchers on board could fill gaps in our knowledge about waters under U.S. jurisdiction. These two RICHARD (Rainier Integrates Charting Hydrography and Reef Demographics) missions were a collaboration between NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, Coral Reef Conservation Program, Ocean Acidification Program, and NOAA Fisheries.
