Scientists have discovered just how little of the deep ocean we've actually seen. According to a recent study published by researchers from the Ocean Discovery League in Science Advances, less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor has been visually observed. To put this into perspective, that’s roughly the size of Rhode Island, despite the deep ocean covering about two-thirds of our planet.
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What’s Hidden Beneath the Waves?
The deep ocean, areas deeper than 200 meters, is crucial for life on Earth. It provides essential services like oxygen production, climate regulation, and even potential sources for new medicines. However, our understanding remains very limited because visual exploration has been extremely restricted. Most observations have taken place near just a few countries—mainly the United States, Japan, and New Zealand—leaving vast regions completely unexplored.
Interesting article: How many undiscovered creatures are there in the ocean? - (Universal-Sci)
Why Is Our View of the Ocean So Limited?
Since 1958, about 44,000 dives have provided visual insights into the deep ocean. However, a significant portion of these dives occurred before 1980, resulting in mostly low-quality, black-and-white images. Surprisingly, over 65% of these dives happened near just three countries, and a small group of nations dominate exploration due to high costs. Five countries—the United States, Japan, New Zealand, France, and Germany—conducted 97% of all deep-sea observations.
Because of this, much of our understanding of ocean life is based on a limited and skewed snapshot. Vast areas like abyssal plains and underwater mountains (seamounts) remain largely unseen.
Closing the Gap: Why It’s Urgent to Explore More
The lack of comprehensive exploration is more critical than ever due to growing threats such as climate change and potential mining. Accordign to Dr. Katy Croff Bell, the study's lead author, we need a much better understanding of the deep ocean's ecosystems and processes to make informed decisions about resource management and conservation.
Advances in technology could help address this gap, making deep-sea exploration more affordable and accessible to a broader range of countries, including those with fewer resources. Dr. Ian Miller from the National Geographic Society emphasizes that local community involvement and global cooperation are essential. If we have a better understanding of our ocean, we are better able to conserve and protect it.
This study underscores the need for a global strategy to explore and protect the deep ocean. With better tools and more inclusive international collaboration, we can finally shed light on Earth's last great mystery—the deep ocean.
If you are interested in more details about the underlying research be sure to check out the paper published in the peer-reviewed science journal Science Advances, listed below.
Sources , further reading and more interesting articles on the subject of oceans:
How Little We’ve Seen: A Visual Coverage Estimate of the Deep Seafloor - (Science Advances)
How many undiscovered creatures are there in the ocean? - (Universal-Sci)
How do land birds cross entire oceans without taking a single break? - (Universal-Sci)
Counterintuitively, most of the water on Earth may have come from the Sun - (Universal-Sci)
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