The Census of Marine Life (CoML) was designed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the diversity of marine life, including an improved understanding of the distribution and abundance of organisms in the global ocean, particularly in areas that have not been thoroughly explored in the past (e.g., the deep ocean, mid-ocean ridge crests, and the microbial biosphere). Observational technologies have been crucial to the achievement of CoML’s goals, so CoML recommended the establishment of an international group to advise CoML and its projects on technologies. The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) has developed and overseen such an international group since 2000, sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.