In nearly seventy years of deep-sea exploration, researchers compiled 43,681 submersible dive records — and found that humans have visually observed less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island, according to a Science Advances study published in May 2025.

In almost seven decades of deep-sea exploration, the direct human view of the deep ocean floor is still smaller than many people would guess. A Science Advances study published in May 2025 compiled 43,681 submersible dive records dating back to 1958 and estim…