Dr. Marcia K. McNutt
President and CEO, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Ocean Exploration
The ocean is essential to life on Earth: it is Earth's largest living space and contains most of its biomass. The ocean moderates climate to keep Earth habitable, recycles our wastes, and provides an inexpensive source of protein to fee the global population. Yet 95 percent of the ocean remains unknown and unexplored. Now, thanks to a number of technological innovations, we have the tool necessary to undertake a systematic exploration of the ocean. Autonomous vehicles can be programmed to execute precise underwater surveys lasting up to week without pause. Remotely operated vehicles equipped with physical, chemical, an biological sensors function as our eyes, ears, noses, and hands in the deep sea. New data management systems permit the systematic archiving of information, allowing subsequent generations of researchers around the world to answer questions not contemplated at the time the data were collected. Much has been learned about the oceans through traditional research programs. But research is different from exploration. While research attempts to find answers, exploration inevitably uncovers new questions. Ocean exploration brings great, but often unpredictable, rewards: cures for diseases from novel biological compounds, untapped mineral, energy, and biological resources, new insight into how the ocean functions, geological and biological vistas of unsurpassed beauty, and renewed appreciation for mankind's maritime past. The time is ripe to launch a major international program of ocean exploration with all the benefits it will bring.
