This piece comes to us from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

In the spring of 1925, the research vessel Arcturus slipped away from New York Harbor under the leadership of New York Zoological Society (NYZS) explorer William Beebe. Its voyage would take it down the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal to the Galápagos Islands, and back before coming to rest over the Hudson Canyon, just 100 miles—or 30 leagues—from Times Square.

At a time when most people imagined ocean science as something happening in distant tropics, the scientists and artists on board the Arcturus knew that great mysteries also lay closer to home. The Hudson Canyon—an immense chasm in the seafloor, on the scale of the Grand Canyon—awaited exploration.

That expedition, organized by NYZS—today the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)—was bold for its day. For four days the team collected and described life from the depths: fishes with glassy eyes, crustaceans with luminous shells, and creatures adapted to cold, dark waters.

What set the voyage apart was not just the science but the way it was shared. Alongside biologists were artists—including two women—who painted, sketched, and interpreted what the nets brought up. Four women scientists were likewise on board—a remarkable representation of their gender for the era. They did more than record specimens; they translated the strangeness and beauty of deep-sea life into images for the public.

A hundred years later, the Hudson Canyon again draws explorers. This month, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are sending a remotely operated vehicle more than a mile into its depths. The unmanned submersible will relay footage of a world rarely seen—revealing corals, sponges, and sharks in a hidden undersea wilderness.

Continuing the legacy of the Arcturus, New York artists are playing a critical role. Sherese Francis will create collages using fabric and notecards, with words generated by visitors to WCS’s New York Aquarium. Also at the aquarium, Perrin Ireland is preparing wall-sized comics on paper based on NOAA’s live feed. Internationally recognized multimedia artist Anita Glesta will draw inspiration from the Arturus’s pioneering women to immerse aquarium audiences in the ocean’s wonders.

This blending of art and science matters. Data can tell us what lives in the Hudson Canyon; artists help us feel it. As in 1925, the public is invited not only to learn about the deep sea but to experience its beauty and strangeness in ways that stir curiosity and caring.

Carrying this legacy forward, the aquarium’s Canyon’s Edge exhibit connects urban dwellers to an oceanic wilderness close to home. In the field, WCS scientists study whales, dolphins, sharks, and other species that depend on the canyon’s ecosystem. And since 2016, WCS has led a coalition advocating for Hudson Canyon’s designation as a National Marine Sanctuary to ensure its protection for generations to come.

That goal is urgent. A hotspot of biodiversity, the canyon supports fisheries, while a variety of iconic whales and dolphins have been spotted in and around Hudson Canyon, including the Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which only some 370 individuals remain.

For the past decade waters closer to NY and NJ, WCS’s Ocean Giants team has gathered baseline data on whales and dolphins, including North Atlantic right whales, humpback, fin, sei, and minke whales, plus bottlenose dolphins and Harbor porpoise. The team is also deploying acoustic recorders on both sides of the Hudson Canyon in the first dedicated effort of its kind to “listen” for, and identify, whales and dolphins.

Sanctuary status would provide important safeguards for these and other species, while allowing research, recreation, and sustainable use. NOAA is engaging all stakeholders in the designation. Consistent with other sanctuaries in the system, WCS recommends that fisheries within the Hudson Canyon continue to be regulated through existing regional and federal entities, and not through a sanctuary designation.

The NOAA expedition underway, coupled with WCS’s own efforts, will help demonstrate how valuable this treasure is. For most New Yorkers, the ocean begins and ends at the beach. But the Hudson Canyon reminds us that the city is a maritime capital, linked to ecosystems as grand and awe-inspiring as any national park. Protecting this canyon not only saves wildlife; it affirms the city’s relationship to the sea.

When the Arcturus set sail in 1925, its crew could not have imagined the technologies that today allow us to livestream the deep ocean. Yet they would recognize the spirit of inquiry and creativity that still drives exploration of the canyon. A century on, we have a chance not only to marvel at what lies beneath but to act decisively to protect it.