Marine Secrets

We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the seabeds of the oceans.

Today, this fact is common knowledge. Few, however, appreciate its absurdity; the moon in question is 384,400 kilometres away through the vacuum of space, while the oceans have sat upon our doorstep since humanity's arrival on Earth some 200,000 years ago.

For centuries, we have had the technology to explore the oceans - in 1715, the French Chevalier Pierre Remy de Beauve invented the first underwater breathing apparatus, while in the same year, the English wool merchant John Lethbridge successfully developed a diving barrel, which he used to salvage valuables from shipwrecks. Only 61 years later, in 1776, the American David Bushnell invented the submarine, the first of which, christened the Turtle, although used for the purpose of naval warfare during the American Revolution, was perfectly capable of pelagic exploration.

Only in the last 55 years, however, has man developed the technology to voyage into space - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin undertaking the first manned space flight on the 12th of April 1961.

Even today, a myriad of marine species await discovery. Vast swathes of oceanic landscape remain to be mapped. Unfathomable amounts of knowledge are yet to be understood.

Marine Secrets' purpose is to give a little knowledge on our most unexplored environment - to form the basis of knowledge for those who aspire to explore the unknown, to delve into the depths of a new, blue world.


Daniel Bailey
Monday 8th of February 2016, 21:22 GMT
England