NOAA Ship Nancy Foster

05/11/2026

Nancy Foster often partners with our National Marine Sanctuaries to conduct research, habitat assessment, and species populations assessments in our marine protected areas. National Marine Sanctuaries are like our National Parks of the ocean and are home to a broad array of wildlife and a haven for anglers and divers. To learn more about our National Marine Sanctuaries, follow the link below!

The Foundation is a leading voice for our National Marine Sanctuary System, so these waters are places for recreation, strong economies and innovation.

05/09/2026

Some of our latest wildlife shots! Nancy Foster is becoming a very popular, unofficial, birding platform.

05/06/2026

NOAA Ship Nancy Foster is gearing up for several dive projects, and for every dive project we always conduct Operational Readiness Training, to make sure our divers, small boat coxswains, deck, and bridge crew are ready to safely deploy boats and divers. NOAA divers are trained not only in marine science and to collect bottom samples of various types, they are also trained to perform rescues in case of emergency. To learn more about Nancy Foster's dive projects, follow along!

04/16/2026

Deploying, piloting, and recovering a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Takes a full team!

The ROV Mohawk has been diving off Nancy Foster, examining Landers deployed to the bottom of the Gulf of America. The ROV helps locate the landers for recovery, and completes survey transects of the ocean floor, collecting photos, videos, and even bottom samples for scientists to study.

04/11/2026

Ever wondered what it looks like to pilot a remotely operated vehicle (ROV)?

These instruments are stacked with all types of sensors that measure water quality, depth, temperature and pH. ROV's can also take sediment cores, collect coral samples and record video and take photos of the deep ocean.

04/10/2026

Congratulations to ENS Dahl on receiving her Underway Officer of the Deck Qualification!

This is an important step for any NOAA Corps Officer, as it designates the Commands trust that the Officer can stand their own operational bridge watch. Bravo Zulu for all your hard work ENS Dahl! We look forward to seeing your career progress.

04/05/2026

The junior officers of NOAA Ship Nancy Foster get some docking practice in!

Docking and undocking the ship can be challenging, but it is also what ship handlers take the most pride in. Here some of our junior officers take supervised turns taking the ship on and off the pier.

04/04/2026

Nancy Foster divers volunteered to clean the Mississippi Aquariums Ocean Tank! We made a few fishy friends as we polished habitats and scrubbed algae.

03/31/2026

Shots from the early days of the 2026 field season! We were visited by Brown Footed B***y and even an Osprey.

03/27/2026

The crew of NOAA Ship Nancy Foster recovers landers from the bottom of the Gulf of America. These landers collect various types of data including water quality and footage. They can live on the seafloor for up to a year before recovery.