When the lunar module Eagle landed on the moon 40 years ago, I was in Denver with my five sisters, mom and dad watching the blurry, ghostly images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin tentatively walk on a barren sea called Tranquility. The excitement in our living room was palpable. The seemingly impossible goal that President Kennedy charted out eight years before had just happened. I felt emboldened, empowered and infused with the notion that anything is possible.
The previous summer I experienced my own exploration awakening, having the opportunity to study invertebrates at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. As a Colorado native, I was astounded to discover a wealth of life in oceans. It was a world filled with incredible diversity of forms and functions, from seastars to lobsters to exotic small creatures, many of whose daily rhythms were profoundly linked to the far away moon and its influence on the Earth’s tides.
The Apollo triumph had an unexpected impact on how we view our oceans. It energized a new focus on the vast unexplored regions of our own home planet. And through iconic images like the Apollo 8 “Earthrise photo,” an entire generation was inspired to cherish and protect our planetary home, which from the perspective of space is an ocean-dominated world.
Although 71 percent of Earth is covered by ocean, we have investigated a mere fraction of this dark realm. Where we have ventured, scientists have found novel life forms that contribute to medical cures, redefine our understanding of life on Earth, and underscore the importance of protecting biodiversity. Yet with so little of the ocean environment truly understood, and with recent discoveries holding the promise that we may find more exotic life forms in the seas, there is a compelling need to explore further what has been described as the “universe below.”
As NASA explores space, NOAA is charged with the twin missions of ocean exploration and stewardship. With a ship (Okeanos Explorer) outfitted for the purpose of interdisciplinary discovery, and dedicated NOAA and university scientists, this work is revealing strange and novel life forms: bacteria living in 300-plus degrees Centigrade; sea creatures deriving energy from chemicals in the Earth and not sunlight.
A great quest still awaits our scientific community, to study extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents, canyons and seamounts; discover new resources and medicines from the sea; and to develop new exploration technologies. But new discoveries await us, even in shallow waters, close to land. Understanding how ocean ecosystems work and are changing enable us to better manage our impact on the planet.
Last month, a government report detailed the danger that climate change poses to oceans and coastal areas. Ocean acidification, resulting from the uptake of carbon dioxide by ocean waters, is harming corals, shellfish, and other creatures. Warmer ocean waters are stressing corals, causing systems to move to new places and enhancing diseases. Climate change is leading to greater coastal erosion and stronger storm surges. These changes complicate efforts to protect oceans and coasts already under heavy stress from pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction.
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