Oceans 11 Historical Introduction

Ocean uses The two most important uses of the oceans to humans are as a source of food and as transportation. Early ocean studies focused on mapping navigation routes for transportation and on documenting areas for catching finfish and shellfish.

Early use of the Oceans Remains of the discarded bones of marine fishes, as well as fishhooks, nets, harpoons and rudimentary boats, used by stone age people, were found in Europe.These items have been dated back to about 40,000 B.C.E.

Captain James Cook In 1768 James Cook began the first of three famous voyages to systematically map and study the Pacific Ocean. He took measurements of temperature, current speed, wind speed, and the occurrence of reefs. He also measured depths up to 366 m with a lead weight attached to a rope.

James Cook                                                                                                                                 

History of Oceanography Key Milestones: 1831-1836: HMS Beagle – Charles Darwin collected data which led to his theory of natural selection. 1872-1876: HMS Challenger – circled globe and collected extensive data on chemical composition of seawater, sediments, seafloor topography.

HMS Challenger 1872-1876 - A British ship fitted to study the physics, chemistry, biology and geology of the oceans. Collected numerous samples of fishes, sediments, depth measurements and water samples from the Pacific, Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. The 50 volume report (1880-1895) by Sir John Murray marked the beginning of Oceanography…

History of Oceanography, cont’d Key Milestones: 1925-1927: Meteor – German vessel set the standard in physical oceanographic research in the Atlantic Ocean. William Beebe (1877 - 1962) was an American naturalist and undersea explorer. In 1932, Beebe and Otis Barton descended 3,000 ft (914 m) in a bathysphere (a pressurized steel sphere invented by Beebe and Barton) off the coast of Nonsuch Island, Bermuda.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) was a French undersea explorer, environmentalist, and innovator. In 1943, Cousteau and Emile Gagnan invented the aqualung, a breathing apparatus that supplied oxygen to divers and allowed them to stay underwater for several hours. Cousteau traveled the world's oceans in his research vessel "Calypso," beginning in 1948. (Calypso was a converted 400-ton World War 2 minesweeper; it sank in 1996, after being hit by a barge in Singapore harbor).

Jacques Ernest-Jean Piccard (1922- ) is a Swiss ocean explorer and scientist who was the first person to go to the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean. On January 23, 1960, he and U.S. Navy Lt. Don Walsh descended over 35,802 feet or 7 miles (10,912 m) in a pressured bathyscape, called Trieste. They went to the bottom of the Challenger Deep of the Marianas Trench (200 miles southwest of Guam), the deepest place on Earth. The trip took five hours. The bathyscape was built by Piccard and his father, Auguste Piccard (1884-1962), a notable Belgian physicist and inventor.

Sylvia Alice Earle (August 30, 1935- ) is an undersea explorer, marine biologist and author. Earle has done pioneering work in studying ocean life, and she has helped develop the equipment necessary for underwater exploration. In 1970, Earle led a team of five aquanauts (underwater explorers) who lived for 2 weeks in an underwater laboratory in a U.S. project named "Tektite II." She has discovered many underwater phemonena, including undersea dunes in the Atlantic Ocean off the Bahama Islands.

Robert Duane Ballard (June 30, 1942 - ) is an American undersea explorer, marine scientist, and US Naval officer who has been on over 65 underwater expeditions in submarines and deep diving submersibles. He found the Titanic and many other wrecks. Ballard has revolutionized undersea exploring by using remotely controlled submersible robotic devices (including Argo-Jason; Argo is a remotely controlled submersible vehicle with cameras, and Jason is carried in Argo and sent from it to collect samples and perform other functions). Ballard founded the JASON project and continues to explore the sea.

1969-1970: CSS Hudson – first ship to circumnavigate the Americas. 1977: Submersible Alvin – discovered hydrothermal vents. 1978: Seasat-A – first satellite launched to study oceans by remote sensing.