Deep Sea Exploration

838 Words2 Pages

In the past age, there were many explorations into the deep sea. Scientists originally descended in order to find the kraken and the giant squid. In the modern era, scientists travel to the deep to discover slightly smaller creatures. Microbial organisms are the most abundant life form on Earth. Scientists drill for microbes on the ocean floor where ancient remains still exist. Other scientists no longer look for life, their interest is in minerals that can produce pharmaceutical drugs. In fact, many drugs have been discovered this way.
James Cameron, a well known film director with interests in deep sea exploration recently launched and piloted a deep sea probe called DEEPSEA CHALLENGE. This mission of this voyage was to reach to bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, 6.85 miles below the surface. At this depth the pressure of the water column was over 1000 times greater than the pressure at sea level (McMahon, 2014). To withstand the pressure, Cameron built the walls of the vehicle 2.5 inches thick. Cameron completed the dive on March 26th 2012 at a record depth of 35,756 feet. Although the dive was successful, there was little to no life at the bottom of the trench. Instead most life was restricted to 0- 15,000 feet (the deepest living fish ever recorded was at a depth of 25,000 feet). Cameron’s dive, however spectacular it may be, did not further the search for life in the deep places of the world (Cameron, 2013).
Most life beneath 15,000 feet is all microbial life and that’s exactly what researchers are looking for in the desert plains of the pacific. The plains are in a tranquil state, meaning that the sea floor dust rarely is disturbed. This allows scientists to study current life on the floor as well as...

... middle of paper ...

...g able to reach the star, let alone study the immensely hot mass, is very slim. It is commonly understood that more is known about outer space than about the oceans. The question is not about accessibility. A manned space mission costs billions of dollars and countless hours of manpower. Currently it is more dangerous to travel to space than it is to journey toward the bottom of the sea. Scientists have the means and the capabilities today to journey to every square inch of the oceans. The question is whether or not there is the will within the scientific community to further explore the vast oceans. But there is hope, James Cameron and other private investors are once again seeing the benefit of sea exploration. From medical knowledge to knowledge about other planets, the high seas (and indeed the low seas) have unknown stores of benefits waiting to be tapped into.

Open Document