About

What is Deep Sea Log?

Deep Sea Log introduces and explains deep-sea and ocean research published by institutions and universities around the world, including MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology). The site is published in Japanese, English, French and German. We report figures and researchers' words as they appear in the original announcements, and then add background and context.

Why we started

Deep-sea research is published mostly in English, and new species, seafloor surveys and advances in exploration technology are reported almost every week. Only a small part of this reaches readers in other languages.

Deep Sea Log started from the wish to bring these discoveries to more readers without drifting away from what the original announcements say.

How we write articles

Our articles follow the steps and standards below, and only articles that meet all of them are published.

  1. Choosing topics: we select from official announcements by research institutions and universities and from papers, based on how new the work is, how little has been written about it, and whether primary sources are available.
  2. Checking sources: we obtain the press release and the paper, and trace news-site reprints back to the original announcement. We do not write about topics whose sources we cannot read.
  3. Checking rights: we translate only material that may be translated (public domain, CC BY or with permission) and explain everything else in our own words. Quotes from researchers are kept short.
  4. Writing: we first record the figures, scientific names, dates and quotes from the sources, and write using only that record.
  5. Checking: figures, units and terms are checked automatically against the sources, and the article is reviewed against the originals. If any standard is not met, the article is not published.
  6. Publishing: each article links to the original announcement and the paper (DOI) and states the source and license of every image.

The decision to publish is also made against these standards. Errors may still slip through, so please let us know if you find one (see “Corrections”).

Main sources

  • MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) — deep-sea surveys with remotely operated vehicles and descriptions of new species
  • NOAA Ocean Exploration — US ocean exploration and seafloor mapping
  • JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) — Japan's centre for ocean and earth science
  • Schmidt Ocean Institute — expeditions aboard the research vessel Falkor (too)
  • WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) — operator of the human-occupied submersible Alvin
  • Announcements by universities and institutes (including those distributed by EurekAlert!) and peer-reviewed papers

We use news sites only to find topics; facts are checked against the original announcements and papers.

Writing principles

  • We use only the figures, scientific names, dates and quotes that appear in the sources.
  • We never make a finding sound more certain than the source does (“may”, “suggests”), and we do not add words such as “first-ever” unless the source uses them.
  • When we cannot read the paper itself, or when the research has not yet been peer reviewed, we say so and describe the limitations.
  • Background and opinions that are not in the original announcement are written separately, under the editors' view.

Corrections

When an error is found, we correct the article and record the date and nature of the correction at the end of the article. Please send corrections, with the article URL and the passage concerned, through the contact page or on X (@shinkai_log).

About the site

Deep Sea Log was launched in March 2026 and is run by the Deep Sea Log editors. New articles are usually published around 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Japan time. We plan to show advertising (Google AdSense); topics are chosen by the standards above, independently of advertising.

Contact

For corrections, research you would like us to cover, or other questions, please use the contact page.