A team of marine scientists with the Schmidt Ocean Institute got on a research vessel named R/V Falkor and set out to the remote Phoenix Islands Archipelago in the west-central Pacific Ocean early June.
They mapped out more than 30,000 square kilometers (11,500 square miles) of the ocean floor with underwater cameras - high-resolution, for about 34 days, and they also captured footage of five more underwater mountains.
Researchers had never documented some of the animals that were gotten on camera before, like an uncommon whale shark and an octopus that appear like it's made of glass. On Thursday, the researchers safely arrived back ashore and they were prepared to share what they have discovered. Here are some highlights.