History of Ocean Research

Ocean investigations in ancient times were of two types. One was concerned with marine life, as exemplified by Aristotle's writings on natural science. The other was interested in exploration for trade and colonization; the activity of the Phoenicians is an example. Through the Middle Ages, ocean study was hampered by fear of rumored monsters and of the unknown, and by technical difficulties in navigation.

The voyages of Ferdinand Magellan (1519–22), Henry Hudson (1607–11), James Cook (1768–78), and other early explorers were primarily made for geographical discoveries. Any information obtained on currents, sea ice, and other physical and biological phenomena was incidental.

The early explorers, whose sounding lines were relatively short, thought the oceans were bottomless. Columbus in 1492 used a 400-fathom (730-m) line in an unsuccessful attempt to sound the Atlantic floor. Magellan in 1521 failed to touch bottom in the Pacific using a line of similar length.

Serious study of marine life was resumed in the 18th century. Chevalier de Lamarck devised a system of classification of animals, including marine animals, that became the basis for modern classification. Baron Georges Cuvier, the founder of comparative anatomy, is noted for his detailed studies of fish and mollusks. His system of classification of fish families was the basis for the modern classification of fish.

Sir James Clark Ross, using a crude hemp line and a lead weight, in 1840 successfully sounded the bottom of the South Atlantic, to 16,063 feet (4,896 m). The early deep ocean soundings were time-consuming and sometimes inaccurate. Gradually, however, technological developments in sounding equipment, especially the introduction of pianowire sounding lines around 1873, improved the accuracy of ocean soundings and the speed with which they could be made.

Also in the 19th century, Michael Sars and Johannes Muller, two of the founders of marine biology, became the first to collect live specimens from the seashore and to dredge the ocean for deep-sea organisms. Edward Forbes studied and classified many new species and formulated a theory of life zones in the ocean. Several nations, including Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Russia, and the United States, sponsored sea expeditions for the study of marine life, currents, and the ocean bottom. Among the most famous of these expeditions are those HMS Beagle and HMS Challenger.

During his historic voyage in the Beagle (1831–36), Charles Darwin determined the nature of coral atolls, discovered many marine animals and plants, and made observations that he later used in developing his theory of evolution. The scientific expedition of the Challenger (1872–76) was the most ambitious venture of its kind up to that time. Much information about the ocean bottom and undersea life was obtained by its team of scientists.

In 1911 the United States electrical engineer Reginald Fessenden invented the echo sounder, and this device came into extensive use in the 1920's. Research ships designed to carry a variety of instruments for oceanographic research were developed. The need for a more stable vessel from which to conduct experiments was filled in 1962 by FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform). This long ship could be flooded to float vertically, making it almost motionless.

Meanwhile, there were developments in working underwater. The invention of the aqualung, a portable breathing system, by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan during World War II freed divers from the restricted range of the deep-sea diving suit.

The first humans to venture below the zone of sunlight were naturalist William Beebe and engineer Otis Barton. In Barton's hollow steel bathysphere they descended by cable more than half a mile (800 m) in 1934. The bathyscaphe, a free-diving craft, was invented in the late 1940's by Auguste Piccard. In 1960 his son Jacques and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh took the bathyscaphe Trieste down to a record depth of 35,802 feet (10,912 m).

The development in 1959 by Cousteau of the first tiny mobile manned submersible marked a new era in oceanography. Unmanned submersibles were designed to carry electronic equipment to depths beyond those that many of the manned vehicles could reach. In 1962 experiments were begun in underwater living and working, with American and French groups under Edwin A. Link and Cousteau. By 1970 similar programs were being conducted in various countries. Official United States projects included Sealab and Tektite.

Since the early 1970's, most ocean research has been concerned with the ocean's effect on the world's climate, pollution of the oceans, life in the oceans, and the evolution of the ocean floor. Artificial satellites have been very important in much of this research. Satellites carrying such equipment as cameras, radar, and infrared sensors are used to study various phenomena, including the circulation of seawater, the topography of the ocean floor, and the distribution of phytoplankton.

In 1977, volcanic fissures were discovered along the mid-ocean ridge. These fissures, called hydrothermal vents, spew forth water as hot as 750° F. (400° C.). The water contains hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other chemicals that help provide nourishment for many types of unusual organisms, including giant clams and worms, that live around the vents.

In 1994, marine biologists discovered that there is life far below the ocean floor. Bacteria were found more than 1,600 feet (500 m) below the floor of the Pacific Ocean.