Project to map entire ocean floor by 2030 passes 20% mark - Livescience.com

The project includes maps of the deepest spots in all five oceans, thanks to an adventurous billionaire.

The project, called Seabed 2030, aims to map 100% of the global ocean floor by 2030 using largely crowd-sourced data from science vessels, corporations and private boat owners around the world.

"When Seabed 2030 was launched in 2017, only 6% of the oceans had been mapped to modern standards," the team wrote in the statement.

In the last year, the team completed another 1.6% of the global ocean map, adding an area "roughly around half the size of the United States," McMichael-Phillips added.

According to the Seabed team, a comprehensive understanding of the ocean floor is crucial to various scientific and commercial pursuits.

With a sluggish 2020 behind them, the Seabed team is optimistic that the project will reach 100% ocean floor coverage by 2030.

For more project updates, tune in again next year on World Hydrography Day. .