The past year has been difficult. Many friends and loved ones were lost during the coronavirus pandemic. All of us had to adjust, adapt, and learn new ways to live and work together while keeping healthy and safe in a virtual workspace. During this time, the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, the Ocean Exploration Trust, and the Schmidt Ocean Institute continued their unique partnership to map, explore, and characterize the ocean while supporting goals of the blue economy. The partners advanced this mission by using virtual tools such as telepresence and new technologies to explore the deep ocean remotely, and most importantly, by drawing on the resilience and creativity of their people. NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research suspended ship operations in 2020.