On the occasion of World Hydrography Day, the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to facilitate the complete mapping of the global ocean floor by 2030, has announced the inclusion of 14.5 million sq. km of new bathymetric data in the latest GEBCO Grid.

Nearly a fifth of the world’s entire ocean floor has now been mapped, with the new data equating to an area twice the size of Australia.

Coverage of the seabed has risen from 15 to 19 percent in the last year. When Seabed 2030 was launched in 2017, only 6 percent of the oceans had been mapped to modern standards.

The effort to complete the map of the world’s oceans has gathered significant momentum since its launch, with Seabed 2030 rallying over 100 international organizations in support. The project now has 133 official partners, contributors and supporters, and continues to pursue new collaborations in data collection and technical innovation.

For more info, visit: seabed2030.gebco.net, Facebook and Twitter @Seabed2030, or contact Jamie McMichael-Phillips at director@seabed2030.org.