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January 2-5, 2001
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Saving an Underwater World
| The World Down Under |
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Marine biologist Sylvia Earle has discovered a new world under the sea. She's spent more than 6,000 hours under water. She's written numerous books and articles. And she's helped develop technologies that let scientists go deeper into the oceans. Earle adds that there's plenty left to do. "Ninety-seven percent of Earth's water is ocean, but less than five percent has been looked at, let alone fully explored," she says. "The average depth of the sea is two and a half miles. The maximum depth is 7 miles. And for a long time, there was an impression that life in the deep sea was non-existent. We've discovered quite the contrary, that life in the deep sea may be as diverse and abundant as in shallow water or in terrestrial areas." Much of that undiscovered sea life consists of microbial organisms invisible to the naked eye. Earle notes that underwater scientists have even officially added a new kingdom to the traditional classification system of living organisms. "And we weren't even aware of their existence until only recently," she says. "What else is down there for us to discover?"
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Dr. Sylvia Earle
knows the ocean depths like few other explorers. As one of
the country's leading marine biologists, she has focused her
efforts on the state of the world's oceans. What has Earle
discovered about ocean ecology, present and future?
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| The Place of Technology |
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"That's still a very, very limited perspective," Earle points out. "We've been able to see where the great mountains and the great valleys and plains are at the bottom of the ocean, but we still don't know the substance of the ocean floor until we check it out. "In all of history, only two people have gone to the deepest part of the ocean—seven miles down off the coast of the Philippines for about half an hour almost 40 years ago—and that is it. Today there are only four submersible vehicles that can take people to only half that depth. "It's so ironic that we can fly overhead seven miles, having lunch and watching movies. And millions of people do that every year. But we're just beginning to really get it together with respect to the technologies we need to understand the aquatic planet." Earle has done her part to increase that understanding. With the help of a special pressurized suit, she has walked along the ocean bottom at a depth of 1,250 feet. She also spent weeks in a special undersea laboratory with a team of other aquanauts for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
And she founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, based in Monterey, California. The company works to improve underwater vehicles, as well as underwater cameras and sonar devices.
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Technological advances can help answer the question of what's left to discover. Underwater researchers currently rely on maps created from satellite images and from acoustic data gathered by bouncing sound waves off the ocean bottom. In addition, robotic submarines—like the one used by undersea explorer Robert Ballard to locate the legendary Titanic—have skimmed the ocean floor and collected samples for scientists to study.
| Providing Sanctuary |
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Currently, Earle serves as the project director for the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a five-year undertaking that studies life in these sanctuaries. The underwater preserves follow the model of America's national parks, which protect natural environments and the species that inhabit them. "The Marine Sanctuaries provide an answer to one of the great challenges to a planet that humans have transformed," says Earle. "How do you protect what remains of the wild systems that form the basis for how the world functions? How do you protect the cornerstone of weather and temperature and climate? How do you protect the diversity of life?" According to Earle, coral reefs have become perhaps the most endangered part of the undersea ecosystem. "Coral reefs are referred to by some as the 'rainforests of the sea.' That refers to the amazing diversity of life in both areas," she explains. "And for both, there's real concern about their future." The reefs have been damaged or destroyed by a range of human actions, she notes, from oceanfront development to water pollution to extensive fishing. "We are removing the large predators—the groupers, the snappers—that maintain the health of the system," Earle notes. "On land, if you remove lions, tigers, eagles, and wolves, you wind up with a very different system."
Earle's conservation efforts have not gone unnoticed. Time magazine has recognized her as one of its "heroes for the planet." The United Nations has bestowed a similar honor.
"Why do I explore? Why do I care? I think most of all because I care about human beings. I care about our future," Earle says. "I have children. I have grandchildren, but even if I didn't, I would be very selfishly concerned about the future of our species. If we don't take care of the systems that take care of us, then our future is really in trouble. So I do everything to discover how the world works and to encourage others to do the same."
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Earle had dedicated herself not only to discovering the world under water, but to protecting it. Her primary focus is on the 13 National Marine Sanctuaries she helped establish for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). They protect undersea areas from the Florida Keys to the Hawaiian islands. Recently NOAA added a site at Thunder Bay in Lake Michigan.
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