1998 Year of the Ocean The Legendary Ocean — ^The Unexplored Frontier 



SEAS OF LEGENDS, LIFE AND DISCOVERY 



The ocean stirs the imagination. Covering more than 70 percent of the surface of the 

 earth, the ocean's beauty and power has long been a source of awe as well as suspicion for many 

 cultures. Legends were developed to help explain both the ocean and our own existence. The 

 Greeks named Poseidon the god of the sea to help protect their seafarers and fishermen. The 

 Eskimos told the story of a sea goddess Sedna, whose lost fingers filled the oceans with marine 

 fish and mammals. In pursuit of meaning — ^both material and spiritual — ^many cultures have 

 turned to the sea for inspiration as well as survival. Although few explorers discovered the riches 

 they inifially sought, they found not only new lands, but also unexpected, bizarre, and dazzling 

 deep-sea creatures inhabiting an alien world. 



Within the past few decades, ocean explorers have uncovered evidence of plate tectonics. 

 These are global geological processes fundamental to the basic understanding of the Earth upon 

 which we live. As exciting and promising as discoveries such as these have been, however, they 

 may pale in comparison to what future exploration may uncover. It must again be noted that 

 these discoveries, some of which shake the very foundations of centuries old beliefs about the 

 basic nature of the Earth, are very recent. As a result of the tools now becoming available, the 

 pace of discovery is escalating rapidly. In the past 25 years, mankind has learned more about the 

 ocean and what lies beneath its surface than had been learned throughout all of previous human 

 history. 



A LONG HISTORY OF OCEANIC EXPLORATION 



Early Explorations 



The ocean was a highway for early explorers. As early as 2000 B.C., Phoenicians sailed 

 the waters of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. There is some evidence 

 Phoenicians even ventured beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. Scandinavian sailors apparently 

 reached North America around 1000 A.D. During the period 1492-1522, known in the culture of 

 the Western world as the Age of Discovery, mankind began to fully realize the vastness of the 

 earth's water- covered surface. During this period, the world was first circumnavigated. North 

 and South America were discovered, and human cultures began to develop a modern view of 

 geography. 



Following this period, exploration became a tool of empire-building for European 

 nafions, and was often associated with the pursuit of scientific interests . Between 1772 and 

 1 779, Captain James Cook made several extraordinary voyages that added greatly to the 

 scientific understanding of the ocean, geography, and anthropology. In addition to discovering 

 Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii, he sampled subsurface temperatures, measured winds and 

 currents, conducted soundings, and collected important data on coral reefs. 



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