**1998 Year of the Ocean**

**THE LEGENDARY OCEANTHE UNEXPLORED FRONTIER**

**Contents**

1\. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY L-2

2\. SEAS OF LEGENDS, LIFE, AND DISCOVERY L-3

3\. A LONG HISTORY OF OCEANIC EXPLORATION L-3

4\. TECHNOLOGY FOR DISCOVERY L-5

5\. THE WEALTH AND WONDER OF THE OCEANS L-7

6\. NAVIGATING THE FUTURE L-9

7\. THE FUTURE L-12

8\. REFERENCES L-12

This Year of the Ocean document was prepared as a background discussion
paper and does not necessarily reflect the policies of the U.S.
Government or the U.S. Government agencies that participated in its
preparation.

**EXECUTIVE SUMMARY**

The ocean remains as one of Earth's last unexplored frontiers. It has
stirred our imaginations over the millennia and has lead to the
discovery of new lands, immense deposits and reservoirs of resources,
and startling scientific findings. The presence of the human eye and the
human ability to sample and to conduct experiments from the coastal
regions to the deep ocean abyss has provided answers to questions on
such critical issues as global change, waste disposal, mineral deposits,
and the creation of life itself. In spite of the development of new
technologies, comparatively little of the ocean has been studied. The
leadership role of the United States has been eroded by a gradual
decrease in funding support in spite of public opinion polls that
indicate that ocean exploration is more important than space studies. As
exciting and enlightening as ocean discoveries have been, they will
likely pale in comparison to future discoveries.

**SEAS OF LEGENDS, LIFE AND DISCOVERY**

The ocean stirs the imagination. Covering more than 70 percent of the
surface of the earth, the ocean's beauty and power has long been a
source of awe as well as suspicion for many cultures. Legends were
developed to help explain both the ocean and our own existence. The
Greeks named Poseidon the god of the sea to help protect their seafarers
and fishermen. The Eskimos told the story of a sea goddess Sedna, whose
lost fingers filled the oceans with marine fish and mammals. In pursuit
of meaningboth material and spiritualmany cultures have turned to the
sea for inspiration as well as survival. Although few explorers
discovered the riches they initially sought, they found not only new
lands, but also unexpected, bizarre, and dazzling deep-sea creatures
inhabiting an alien world.

Within the past few decades, ocean explorers have uncovered evidence of
plate tectonics. These are global geological processes fundamental to
the basic understanding of the Earth upon which we live. As exciting and
promising as discoveries such as these have been, however, they may pale
in comparison to what future exploration may uncover. It must again be
noted that these discoveries, some of which shake the very foundations
of centuries old beliefs about the basic nature of the Earth, are very
recent. As a result of the tools now becoming available, the pace of
discovery is escalating rapidly. In the past 25 years, mankind has
learned more about the ocean and what lies beneath its surface than had
been learned throughout all of previous human history.

**A LONG HISTORY OF OCEANIC EXPLORATION**

**Early Explorations**

The ocean was a highway for early explorers. As early as 2000 B.C.,
Phoenicians sailed the waters of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the
Indian Ocean. There is some evidence Phoenicians even ventured beyond
the Strait of Gibraltar. Scandinavian sailors apparently reached North
America around 1000 A.D. During the period 1492-1522, known in the
culture of the Western world as the Age of Discovery, mankind began to
fully realize the vastness of the earth's water- covered surface. During
this period, the world was first circumnavigated, North and South
America were discovered, and human cultures began to develop a modern
view of geography.

Following this period, exploration became a tool of empire-building for
European nations, and was often associated with the pursuit of
scientific interests . Between 1772 and 1779, Captain James Cook made
several extraordinary voyages that added greatly to the scientific
understanding of the ocean, geography, and anthropology. In addition to
discovering Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii, he sampled subsurface
temperatures, measured winds and currents, conducted soundings, and
collected important data on coral reefs.

The earliest successful explorers of the deep ocean were Sir John Ross
and Sir James Clark Ross. In 1817 off Baffin Bay, Canada, Sir John
collected samples of bottom dwelling organisms including starfish and
worms from a depth of 1.8 km. Sir James conducted soundings with a 7-km
line during several voyages to the Antarctic from 1839-1843. Their
results spurred scientific interest in deep-sea life. In the mid-19th
century, scientific exploration of deep waters was further encouraged by
the Azoic Theory of Edward Forbes, which held that life did not and
could not exist below about 300 fathoms (1,800 ft). The desire to test
this hypothesis has led to further exploration until, eventually, no
depth has been completely unstudied.

The history of oceanography and deep-sea research has been one of cyclic
fluctuations, each cycle involving more sophisticated research as it
builds on previous knowledge. These research cycles have always included
significant government support, because oceanographic research is very
expensive, requires long-term commitments of personnel and assets, and
does not necessarily provide information that can be of immediate or
specific commercial use.

**Modern Oceanography**

Modern oceanography can be considered to have started with the voyage of
HMS Porcupine in 1869. However, it is the voyage of HMS Challenger
(1872-1876) that is most famous. In both cases, these expeditions were
made possible because of government support for exploration and
scientific research. During the 127,500-km voyage, the Challenger
scientists plotted the first systematic contour lines of ocean basins,
currents, and temperatures. Although they labored under conditions much
more primitive than those of modern oceanographers, they obtained some
remarkable information, including a depth measurement of over 8,000
meters in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.. This
measurement was made using piano wire for a sounding line. The Azoic
theory was subsequently rejected; abundant life occurred at most depths.
More than 4700 new species were collected with nets and bottom dredges.

World War II provided another set of strong reasons for developing a
better understanding of the seas. While wars fought at sea were not new,
what was new was a major thrust by maritime powers to understand the
medium they were using as a battleground in order to improve their
fighting and defense capabilities. Thus the U.S. Navy, as well as navies
of other developed nations, devoted sizable resources to understanding
the oceans and to developing capabilities to improve this understanding.
Wartime requirements resulted in improved oceanographic instrumentation,
surface and bottom charts, long-range weather prediction, submarine
detection equipment and an enhanced understanding of underwater sound.

The past 50 years have seen milestone developments in technologies and
capabilities that have greatly contributed to oceanography. Some of
these include research submersibles, satellites, sonar technology,
surface platforms and, or course, the computer.

**TECHNOLOGY FOR DISCOVERY**

**Exploring the Deep Sea**

Humans first explored the ocean by directly observing it or by placing
samplers and instruments into the sea from their ships. These techniques
were limited by the relatively shallow depths then attainable by humans
and the relative opaqueness of the sea. Light is rapidly absorbed by sea
water, making visibility with conventional techniques virtually
impossible beyond shallow depths. Sunlight doesn't penetrate below 300
meters, and relatively few places in the ocean have visibility greater
than 30 meters. Thus, observations from the surface are severely limited
as are observations by divers alone. In recent years, however,
capabilities for ocean exploration have been greatly enhanced by major
technological developments that enable seeing far beneath the waves to
the seafloor itself.

Although there had been attempts even in antiquity to work underwater,
humans had never been able to penetrate very far into the depths until
the 1930s. It was then that William Beebe, an American ichthyologist,
succeeded in reaching a depth of 1,000 meters in his "bathysphere," and
providing exciting reports (by live radio broadcast) of life at those
depths. Although there were many limitations to his diving platform,
Beebe was overwhelmed by the chance to observe marine life in its own
environment. A quarter century later, the bathyscaphe Trieste took two
men to a depth of 35,800 ft, the deepest spot in the ocean, the Mariana
Trench near Guam, in the western Pacific. Although the Trieste lacked
manipulators or samplers, it allowed unprecedented observations from the
water surface down to the benthos (organisms that live on or in the
ocean bottom) and provided a tantalizing glimpse of future discoveries.

**Modern Equipment for Undersea Exploration**

Even when wearing diving gear, humans are limited to relatively shallow
depths and short periods of submergence. SCUBA (Self-Contained
Underwater Breathing Apparatus), invented in 1943 by French naval
engineers Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan, allows excursions to well
below 100 feet for significant durations. The ability to live and work
underwater has been greatly expanded through advances in diving
physiology and technology. Through the use of saturation diving,
scientists can live under the sea in "Aquarius," the only undersea
habitat devoted to scientific research. (Aquarius is currently located
at the base of a South Florida coral reef.) Through techniques such as
saturation and mixed-gas diving, scientists can extend their underwater
depth and time limits. Yet, while SCUBA has allowed millions of people
to become undersea explorers, it still only allows humans the ability to
spend relatively short times at comparatively shallow depths.

The development of the occupied research submersible from the late 1950s
to the present allows scientists and explorers access to undersea depths
of up to 6,500 m (21,326 ft), although most submersibles have much
shallower diving capabilities (300 m to 3,000 m). Modern research
submersibles generally have manipulators, lighting, cameras, and sensors
allowing detailed observations and experiments. Among the most notable
submersible discoveries have been the finding of chemosynthetic life at
hydrothermal vents, studies of undersea volcanoes and their eruptions,
and hundreds of previously unknown species of deep-sea animals.
Worldwide, an estimated 1,000 submersible dives per year have taken
place since 1970.

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which are tethered, unoccupied
robots, have been highly developed and provide some significant
advantages over occupied submersibles. They have almost unlimited bottom
time, their damage or loss endangers no human lives, and their
telepresence capability allows a broader audience to be "present."
Vehicles range from the small and portable, capable of working at only a
few tens of meters, to the large and somewhat cumbersome (11,000
pounds), capable of working at 10,000 meters while carrying many
different sensors and tools. Since the early 1970s, more than a 1,000
ROVs have been placed into service worldwide in support of various tasks
including oil exploration and operations, offshore development, and
undersea research. In 1966, an ROV was used to find a hydrogen bomb lost
at sea after an accident off the coast of Palomares, Spain. Using the
ROV Kaiko, Japanese scientists revisited the Mariana Trench in 1995 and
documented observations of shrimp, a scale worm, and a sea cucumber at
10,911 m (35,800 ft).

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have been recently developed to
augment occupied submersibles and ROVs as exploration vehicles. Most of
the AUVs now in service are experimental test platforms, although
several have been used for scientific purposes. Because AUVs are
untethered they can have a much greater horizontal excursion capability
than an ROV. Long-range AUVs are currently limited by the lack of
cost-effective power supplies. Nevertheless, the future for
computer-guided, unoccupied, untethered vehicles appears promising.

Technological advances notwithstanding, humans are still an important
part of exploration. Divers are better at working around delicate
undersea communities and archeological excavation sites than are robots,
and trained observers remain the best detectors of many phenomena, i.e.,
they do not need to be programmed to identify unexpected discoveries.

Acoustic technology, including sonar (sound navigation and ranging), has
become an essential tool for marine exploration. Sound penetrates the
ocean much as light penetrates the atmosphere. Sound is carried through
water much more readily than it is through air; depending upon
frequency, volume, and water characteristics, sounds can be heard
thousands of kilometers from their origin. Acoustic technologies are
used to explore the distribution of animals in the water, the nature of
the sea bottom, to locate objects, discover natural resources, provide
undersea navigation, detect submarines, and to improve our understanding
of the nature of the ocean itself . With the development of side scan
sonars and deep towed echo sounders in the 1960s, detailed sea bottom
mapping, which is essential to understanding plate tectonics and other
geological processes, has become possible. The recent marriage of
computers with acoustic technologies has resulted in the introduction of
mapping systems that can provide wide area images of the seabed in real
time.

With the end of the Cold War, declassified technologies and resources
developed for military purposes have become available to civilians.
Among these major resources are formerly classified military
oceanographic data, deep-sea submersibles, nuclear submarines, and the
Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS), a listening system
developed for submarine detection and location. The availability of
these resources has had a significant impact on ocean exploration. A
cooperative agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Navy provides access for civilians to
Navy deep submersibles and ROVs, allowing exploration and research to
6,000 m below the surface. Several scientific cruises to the Arctic
Ocean using the Navy's nuclear-powered submarines have been made since
1993. These missions have demonstrated the utility of such vessels for
oceanographic and geophysical studies of polar oceans. Another dual-use
application known as acoustic thermometry uses listening systems to
measure whether the ocean is cooling or warming by measuring the speed
of sound transmission between two fixed points. Data such as this can
provide evidence concerning the status of global climate change. Other
cooperative uses for U.S. Navy vessels include mapping and seismic
exploration of the ocean floor, tracking and study of whales, retrieval
of environmental information from remote instrumented buoys and
observatories, and enforcement of fishing regulations.

Remote sensing technologies, such as satellites and radar, are relative
newcomers to the toolbox of the ocean explorer. They are capable of
providing synoptic information over large surface areasinformation
previously unobtainable from surface-based platforms such as ships and
buoys. Pictures from satellites orbiting the earth provide some of the
most valuableand often, unexpectedinformation about the ocean.
Recently, a satellite found what may be the world's second largest lake
beneath Antarctica's thick icecap. Data released within the past year
shows the Pacific Ocean may contain more than 50 percent more seamounts
than previously thought. This means that more than 25,000 undersea
volcanos taller than 1 km are largely unknown and remain uncharted
because of sparse bathymetric coverage. (Seamounts are submarine
volcanos that can provide information about geological history. Because
they often support highly diverse and abundant marine life, they may
also provide significant new fishing grounds.) Finally, satellite images
can be used to follow pollution discharged from rivers into the sea,
locate coral reefs and provide information on their health, measure heat
flow from the sea surface, and study the effects of wind and tides on
the transportation of sediments. A myriad of possible applications
abound.

**THE WEALTH AND WONDER OF THE OCEANS**

Oceans continue to arouse some of our most noble and basic instincts. In
just a few short decades, research has opened doors to ocean exploration
and exploitation that our ancestors could only have imagined. The seas
have much to offer of economic importance. Some resources like fisheries
and mineral resources are well recognized today. Others offer promise
for the future.

Marine mineral resources are extensive and (in deeper waters) poorly
known. The exploitation of these resources will require an expansion of
geological knowledge in order to locate them. If severe damage to the
seas is to be avoided, it will also require a better understanding of
the ecosystems with which these mineral resources are associated and the
development of technology to extract them without causing significant
damage.

Oil use has increased dramatically in recent times, and the seabed holds
unexploited reserves. The ocean also has deposits of gravel, sand,
manganese crusts and nodules, tin, gold, and diamonds. Many of these
deposits are located in coastal areas where potential environmental
problems associated with their exploitation may be so serious that they
cannot now be mined in a responsible manner. Many of the mineral
deposits about which little is known occur in the deep ocean on
underwater volcanos and ocean ridges, or on the flanks of the more than
50,000 seamounts in the Pacific Ocean.

Perhaps more important than the search for minerals is the search for
medications. Marine plants and animals have biotechnological potential
in the treatment of a wide variety of human illnesses. Coral reefs,
sometimes denoted as the rainforests of the sea, contain novel chemicals
that can be used to fight cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and other diseases.
Since the discovery of penicillin in mold more than 60 years ago,
scientists have looked for potential drugs in soil microbes, and more
recently, in marine microbes. While chemicals from land-based plants and
microbial fermentation are on the decline, scientists have barely
scratched the surface of the sea's molecular potential.

"Extremophiles", micro-organisms with the ability to thrive in extreme
environments such as hydrothermal vents, hold promise for genetically
based medications and industrial chemicals and processes. Their unique
enzymes, called "extremozymes," enable them to function in such
forbidding environments. Last year, the biomedical industry was foremost
among industries worldwide which spent more than \$2.5 billion searching
for potentially useful enzymes. The newest frontiers for this search are
the extreme ocean environments.

Some of the most critical exploration is happening closer to home in the
shallow waters that surround us. While likely to have been unnoticed at
the surface, scientists are working just below the waves to understand
the coastal ocean and how human populations interact with it. An example
is the underwater observatory, LEO-15, located in 15 meters of water
just 10 km off the coast of Atlantic City. Using it, scientists can
study estuaries and coastal waters, which are nursery grounds for some
of the most important commercial fisheries, now under stress. The
disposal of agricultural, industrial, and domestic waste, pressures from
overfishing, and shipping are putting the coastal ocean at risk.
Scientists are studying the effects of coastal development and the
natural processes that circulate material from land into rivers, bays,
lakes, and the ocean to determine the fate of contaminants in the
environment, the critical role that chemical constituents play in the
production of organic matter, and their impact on marine life. For
example, scientists are trying to determine what changes in the
environment, both natural and man-made, might be promoting the expansion
of harmful algal blooms, the demise of coral reefs, the loss of
fisheries, global warming, and other problems. Developments in the
understanding of ocean chemistry, which are enhanced by rapid
advancements in technology such as using molecular techniques to screen
seawater samples for microbial populations, mean that researchers may
eventually be able to forecast events in the coastal ocean, just the
weather can be forecast now.

Perhaps the ocean's greatest unappreciated potential for humans has
little to do with new medicines and products, oil, gold, or food. It is
the chance to ponder, explore, and enjoy this realm. Recreational
activities along waterfront communities such as clamming, crabbing,
fishing, swimming, and iceboating are cultural traditions that have been
handed down from one generation to another. Surfing is not a recent
phenomenon , but a 1,000 year old tradition born in Hawaii. Water
skiing, invented in the French Alps by a group of soldiers skilled at
skiing the Alps, now has enthusiasts worldwide. Since the invention of
the aqualung, millions of SCUBA divers have been given access to the
earth's last frontier. Tourist submarines operating at more than 18
sites around the world for the past decade have carried more than six
million passengers. Each participant considers himself to be an ocean
explorer.

**NAVIGATING THE FUTURE**

Exploring and improving our understanding of the ocean and its influence
on global events are among the most important challenges today. With the
approach of the next millennium, the Earth's ocean and the underlying
seabed remain one of our planet's last frontiers. What lies ahead? Clues
can be found in recent trends:

-   *The United States is no longer the principal nation with interests
    and capabilities in exploring the oceans.*

While France and the European Community have growing capabilities, over
the past decade Japan has taken the global lead in deep ocean
technology. Japan's Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC) has
some of the world's most capable research vessels, including deep
submersibles. JAMSTEC operates the world's deepest diving occupied
submersible (6,500 m) and the deepest diving ROV (11,000 m). It recently
placed into service the 8,600 ton Mirai, the world's largest
oceanographic vessel. JAMSTEC's most ambitious project yet planned is a
ship capable of drilling 3,500 m into the seafloor, to be launched early
next century. In Japan, the ocean sciences enjoy broad popular and
political support; their budget has grown at 15 percent per year during
the past five years. JAMSTEC has expanded its research program to
include life in extreme environments and climate change, and has used
international collaboration to develop impressive research programs. The
United States is not investing adequately to maintain its expertise, and
this will have scientific and economic effects.

-   *An end to the Cold War and cutbacks in defense spending have
    decreased development of new ocean technologies.*

Large-scale development of ocean technology for military purposes has
been reduced. As a consequence, the non-military sector is losing the
sizable benefit it enjoyed for many years resulting from military
development and operation of expensive ocean technologyi.e., the tools
for ocean exploration. On the other hand, many of the expensive devices
once not available outside the military community are now open for wider
use. The bad news, however, is that civilian budgets in large part
cannot afford to operate these capable but costly systems.

-   *The need for manned presence under the sea is decreasing.*

New technologies make it possible for humans to work beneath the waves
without actually physically being there. For example, seafloor
observatories, like the Long-term Ecosystem Observatory (LEO-15) off the
coast of New Jersey, linked electronically to satellites and land-based
stations, are being developed. Currently, our opportunities to know
what's occurring in the ocean are limited. By combining submersible
vehicles and sensors communicating acoustically to a network of moorings
equipped with surface buoys and satellite links, scientists are getting
a better idea of what's occurring at the seafloor in real time.
Satellites like the Geosat and ERS-1 spacecraft, which were used to
detect seamounts in the Pacific plate, will be used in combination with
conventional seafloor mapping techniques. Assessments done via a number
of technologies, including submersible vehicles, will become
increasingly important. For many applications, remotely operated
systems, which can perform more reliably and cost effectively, are
superior to manned systems. Nevertheless, there will continue to be a
role for the presence of humans under the sea as divers and in
submersibles, especially when the mission is exploration.

-   *The high cost of working in the oceans is forging partnerships
    between organizations that have not traditionally worked together.*

Partnerships are being formed to support ventures that previously were
the sole domain of government. For example, Aquarius, the world's only
underwater laboratory, was removed from operation in the summer of 1996
because of lack of sufficient funding. Through an innovative partnership
with private industry, the university community, and a private
foundation, it was reconfigured and modernized to reduce operational
costs, and returned to service in the fall of 1997. Additional
partnerships to advance ocean interests are being encouraged and
supported through the Congressionally created National Oceanographic
Partnership Program.

**The Government Role**

Exploration of new ocean frontiers holds the promise to enhance the
future of the United States in a myriad of ways, and continued support
for this endeavor is considered a vital national need (*Undersea
Vehicles and National Needs*, 1996, National Research Council). How
might this be accomplished? Japan has now taken the definitive lead in
development of undersea capabilities. If the United States wants to
retain its status in undersea science, a longer term commitment to
support of ocean science and exploration is necessary. Some of the
issues that need to be addressed are :

-   Government support has always been critical for oceanographic
    research. The United States cannot maintain its expertise in ocean
    research unless and until adequate support is provided. Since the
    early 1980s, funding for ocean sciences, as a percentage of the
    total U.S. federal basic research base, has been reduced by nearly
    half.

-   As responsible stewards of the environment, ocean exploration must
    be recognized as an important role within the missions of U.S.
    agencies charged with ocean-related responsibilities.

-   A plan for undersea research that includes better access to assets,
    refinement and integration of existing systems, development of a
    strategic plan for future needs, and stable multi-year funding for
    ocean exploration is needed.

-   The oceanographic community must capture the public's attention and
    imagination. While many space satellites have been launched, nothing
    comparable can be proclaimed for the ocean. Plans have been proposed
    for the first attempt of a self-powered autonomous undersea vehicle
    (AUV) to voyage between North America and Europe this year. Properly
    promoted, this AUV project could raise general public awareness
    about the value of marine exploration, and foster continued public
    interest and support.

-   Teaching children about the wonder and science of the ocean may be
    the best investment for the future. In this new age of science and
    education technology, students can exchange the confines of the
    classroom and traditional textbooks for hands-on discovery and real
    time learning. In 1996, internet history was made when the only
    undersea laboratory devoted to science became the world's first
    underwater website. More than two million students had a virtual
    porthole via video screens to swim with sharks and reef fish,
    submerge in a nuclear submarine, and live in the underwater habitat
    Aquarius. This effort, which was part of the Jason Project,
    transported students via satellite to remote sites where scientists
    are engaged in research, enabling them to directly observe ongoing
    investigations of the biological and geological development of
    Earth. Other innovative examples exist for bringing the ocean into
    the classroom. Rutgers University has partnered with a number of
    other organizations to begin a program in New Jersey this past year
    using the underwater observatory, LEO-15. More innovative approaches
    such as these are needed to assure the next generation will be well
    informed stewards and explorers of the ocean.

Fantastic voyages to the planet's inner space are happening close to
home in the waters that surround us, and are reminders that the ocean is
still brimming with life that scientists are only just discovering. The
ocean has been navigated for thousands of years, but exploration of the
deepest parts of the ocean is just beginning.

Public opinion polls indicate that Americans care strongly about the
ocean and are prepared to support ocean exploration over space
exploration. According to a recent survey, eighty percent say that the
condition of the ocean is a matter of personal importance. A full 55
percent give priority to funding ocean exploration over space
exploration. The survey participants, nearly three quarters (72
percent), also see the health of the ocean as intimately connected to
the future well-being of humankind.

**THE FUTURE**

Ocean exploration gives mankind a sense of human progress and heritage.
It provides the experience and knowledge necessary to undertake
stewardship of the ocean and its resources, and thus sets a course for
future generations to navigate. What lies ahead is still unknown.
Whatever it is, however, will be influenced by what is found through
tomorrow's explorationand, will likely be different than today's
predictions!

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