The ocean covers over 70% of Earth’s surface, yet remains largely unexplored, with less than 10% mapped in detail. Ocean exploration investigates its physical and chemical characteristics, vast marine life, and seafloor geology. This ongoing pursuit aims to understand the ocean’s depths, its processes, and the life it harbors, revealing its importance to humanity.
Discovering Hidden Worlds
Ocean exploration constantly uncovers new species, ecosystems, and biological processes, expanding our understanding of life on Earth. Recent expeditions have revealed over 100 potential new deep-sea species, including glass sponges, squat lobsters, and various corals, with some seamounts hosting distinct creatures found nowhere else. Scientists have documented over 800 new marine species through initiatives like the Ocean Census, highlighting immense undiscovered biodiversity, including organisms like the guitar shark and various gastropods with potential biotechnological promise.
Unique environments like hydrothermal vents, discovered in 1977, exemplify the ocean’s hidden biodiversity. These underwater geysers emit superheated, mineral-rich fluids, supporting ecosystems powered by chemosynthesis rather than sunlight. Over 300 animal species have been identified around these vents, with 95% unique to these extreme conditions, demonstrating life’s remarkable adaptability. Studying these communities offers insights into the origins of life on Earth and the potential for life in similar extreme environments on other planets.
Shaping Earth’s Climate
The ocean regulates global climate and weather patterns. It absorbs solar radiation, distributing heat and moisture around the globe, and driving weather systems. The ocean acts as a significant carbon sink, absorbing approximately 30% of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions and capturing about 90% of the excess heat generated by these emissions. This absorption moderates global temperatures but also leads to ocean acidification, impacting marine life.
Ocean currents, like a vast conveyor belt, transport warm water from the equator towards the poles and cold water back to the tropics, regulating regional temperatures. Without these currents, temperature extremes would be much more pronounced, making large parts of Earth less habitable. Exploration also helps understand geological processes beneath the waves, such as plate tectonics and underwater volcanism. These activities influence ocean chemistry and contribute to the planet’s dynamic systems.
Innovations for Humanity
Ocean exploration provides benefits for human well-being and technological advancement. Marine organisms are a rich source of novel compounds with therapeutic potential. For example, marine invertebrates produce more antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory substances compared to terrestrial organisms. Over 15 to 20 marine-derived compounds have received clinical approval for treating cancer, pain, viral infections, and heart disease.
Examples include Cytarabine and Vidarabine, derived from a Caribbean sponge, used to treat leukemia and herpes infections. Ziconotide, a potent painkiller, originates from a marine snail. Ongoing research discovers promising compounds, such as those from marine sponges and sea hares, currently in clinical trials for various cancers. Deep-sea exploration also drives technological innovations, including advanced robotics, submersibles, and imaging systems, with broader applications beyond marine science.
Safeguarding Marine Life
Ocean exploration supports the conservation and sustainable management of marine ecosystems. By exploring marine environments, scientists identify vulnerable areas and monitor the impacts of pollution and climate change. This knowledge informs policies aimed at protecting biodiversity.
Exploration allows tracking changes in ocean chemistry, such as increasing acidity due to carbon dioxide absorption, which affects shell-forming organisms like corals and plankton. It also helps observe the health of critical habitats like coral reefs, which support a quarter of marine biodiversity. Data gathered through exploration provides insights for responsible stewardship of ocean resources, ensuring their health for future generations.