The deep sea water circulate the globe on a massive scale. Melted from the collapsing Greenland glacier, the cold water submerges to some 2,000 m below the surface, and moves slowly south, moving eastward around the Cape of Good Hope, advancing to the Indian Ocean, then eventually reaching the Pacific. It takes a staggering 2,000 years before the water rises again to the surface in the northern Pacific. Along its journey, the water springs up in some sites, providing rich fishing grounds abounding with plankton and seaweed that lure the fish. Peru, for instance, is one of the world's leading fishing nations, because it borders an area where the deep sea water rises.
Japan leads the world in research and development of that technology.
Using natural forces, the facility retrieves water from 600 meter and 1,400 meter depths and provides a model for aquaculture throughout the world. The facility attracts fish of all sizes and their accompanying food chains. Possible Medical and Agricultural Applications Medical experts also are drawn to the potential benefits of deep sea water. This year, the Okinawa Prefectural Government will complete its Deep Seawater General Applications Center on Kume Island. Using the low temperatures, the purity, the mineral content and other aspects of deep seawater, the facility researches new technology and products not only in fisheries and agriculture, but in medicine.