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00:00It covers about 70% of the Earth's surface, but about 80% of the ocean remains unexplored and
00:07unmapped. It's estimated that humans have discovered just 14% of Earth's species,
00:13with most of the unfound lurking in the ocean.
00:17There are vast deep-sea networks that remain totally untouched.
00:24What do you think is hiding out there?
00:26First off, why should we even care about what happens in the oceans at all?
00:32These vast waters can seem like cold and empty, inhospitable environments threatening hidden
00:37dangers. But they're actually key to understanding our planet. Like rare plants found in the
00:41rainforest, there could be – and probably are – millions of undiscovered species living down
00:46there, which could change what we know – or think we know – about biology and evolution,
00:52as well as general sea life and life on Earth.
00:55For many, the uncharted plants, animals and environments can mean only one thing – sea
01:00monsters. Taking the bigfin, or long-armed squid, as an almost alien-like example of something we
01:06do already know about, is it so hard to believe that there'd be other enormous creatures thriving
01:11in parts of the sea human eyes have never seen? The biggest animal we're aware of is the blue
01:16whale. But we only know so much about it because it stays close to the surface to breathe.
01:21For animals evolved to live in the deepest, darkest depths, some argue they could be even
01:25bigger. It's certainly an idea embraced in mythology, with creatures like the Kraken,
01:30the Leviathan and the Hydra showing up in stories and texts for centuries.
01:37But, it's also something that even science can't entirely disprove, because so much of the
01:42ocean remains uncharted. As recently as 1997, ocean experts were left scratching their heads
01:48by the bloop, a loud, low-frequency and unexplained sound detected deep underwater.
01:59Some said the sound was made by an impossibly huge sea creature moving. Others have speculated that
02:04it was simply shifting sea ice, but no one knows for sure. That's not to say that simply monsters
02:10is the reason humans have uncharted every inch of the underwater world. A lot of it rests on
02:15a lack of enthusiasm, and therefore technology, to do so. Arguably the result of a human tendency
02:20to look outward, toward the stars, rather than inward, at the bottom of the sea.
02:24Oceanographers argue that the biggest roadblock for sea exploration is space. Despite the universe
02:30being incomprehensibly huge, we know much more about what happens out there than down here,
02:35spending much more time, money and effort to do so. We've mapped 100% of the lunar and
02:41Martian surface, and around 98% of our second-closest planet, Venus, but only 5% of our
02:47own seafloor. There are valid reasons for this. NASA use radio waves to map other planets, but
02:53radio waves can't be used for the sea because the water gets in the way. Mapping the ocean floor
02:58requires sonar, which, though the tech does exist, is a much slower process. During the search for a
03:04Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, for example, the sonar used was so advanced that massive, active
03:09volcanoes, deep trenches and other geological features were discovered for the first time
03:14while trying to locate the plane. Unfortunately, it often takes a tragedy like this for such a
03:20thorough and detailed analysis of deep-sea areas to even happen. Ocean authorities like the National
03:25Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration simply don't have the funding to explore the ocean
03:30on a large scale. Compared to NASA, NOAA feels extremely low-profile, and that's reflected in
03:36their budgets, with NOAA pocketing around $6 billion in 2018, and NASA more than $20 billion.
03:42According to the University of New Hampshire's Larry Meyer, total sonar mapping of the sea could
03:47cost only half of what NOAA gets given, and around the same as a single mission to Mars, around $3
03:52billion. But there just isn't the willingness to spend such massive numbers on the project.
03:58All of which means that most underwater mapping is actually done by private oil companies looking
04:02for places to drill, which represents an unfortunate irony for oceanographers as
04:07underwater drilling can spell disaster for ocean environments. Those hoping to increase deep-sea
04:12exploration argue that it would actually benefit us far more than space travel anyway. Even if we
04:18did discover something exciting like alien life elsewhere in the solar system, we might not be
04:23able to make contact for centuries. Meanwhile, there's an arguably greater chance of immediate,
04:28life-changing discoveries at sea, where the research field is comparatively closer,
04:32smaller and more manageable. While it's 239,000 miles from here to the moon,
04:38the furthest depths of our earthly seas, Challenger Deep and the Marianas Trench,
04:42are just seven miles away from us. And humans have already been there, with the first-ever
04:47manned submarine journey to the Challenger Deep happening as long ago as 1960, nine years before
04:53the moon landing. There are problems beyond the simple lack of funding and apparent lack
04:58of enthusiasm, though. Namely, depth pressure. While space travel deals with a distinct lack
05:03of pressure, the pressure is immense for deep-sea missions. According to NASA, the pressure at
05:08Challenger Deep is 1,000 times greater than on land, and the same as if you tried to hold 50
05:13jumbo jets on your own. But that is the extreme case. On average, the ocean is only 2.3 miles
05:20deep. The conditions are still pretty perilous, but not at the same kind of level. If we took the
05:25time to source the right location, then we could feasibly build an international sea station as
05:30an underwater counterpart for the ISS in orbit. The near-total lack of sunlight would make it
05:35almost impossible to carry out some tasks in underwater bases, like growing plants, for
05:39example. But there would be some benefits compared to outer space living, too. At its coldest,
05:45the ocean dips only just below zero degrees Celsius, while space is minus 270. So,
05:51underwater heating systems would be under much less strain. It'd also be easier to send supplies
05:56to and from an underwater base since it's only a few miles in a submarine, compared to a few
06:01hundred in a rocket. And, those actually based underwater could return to land fairly often,
06:06while it'd be an arduous journey for anyone in a moon colony. Finally, if we did open up our oceans,
06:12then we could even find another solution to various global concerns like climate change
06:16and overpopulation. Underwater cities. Currently, there's clearly a much greater emphasis on moving
06:23to Mars than on colonising the Atlantic. But, if we relocated the water en masse, it'd at least buy
06:28us some more time to re-evaluate our lives on Earth, and give us a greater, first-hand understanding
06:34of sea and plastic pollution. In the long term, such a move could even give us more time to tweak
06:39our space travel strategies. Perhaps NASA and NOAA share a common goal, after all. Whether or not
06:49we do eventually explore the entire ocean largely boils down to money and motivation, and whether
06:54there's enough of either. There are mysteries to solve, species to discover, and wide-reaching
06:59lessons to learn. But, right now, we're impeded by inexplicable disinterest and an unfortunate
07:04lack of funding. And that's why we haven't fully explored the oceans yet. What do you think? Is
07:10there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from
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