The Impact of Technology in Ocean Exploration Essay Example

Imagine yourself deep beneath the sea in a submersible. On your journey, you will see many amazing things that technology has helped us discover! Did you know that humans have explored only about 5% of the abyssal depths where you are? Hopefully, technology will help us explore this zone further! Still, technology has gotten better over time, helped us discover new things, and has been assisted by great underwater explorers!

Over time, technology to help explore the oceans has gotten better and better, from the Aqualung to the Jim Suit, to new submersibles. In the 1940s, an inventor and explorer named Jacques Cousteau invented a device to help people stay underwater for longer than before called the aqualung. (Dive Tech) According to the article Dive Technology, “the aqualung was a metal oxygen tank attached to a breathing tube that controlled the flow of oxygen.” This allowed for underwater excursions to happen for longer, and deeper than before. Even now, a version of the Aqualung exists, called SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus). (Dive Tech) Another invention called the “Jim Suit” increased the time and depth limits for dives, allowing explorers to go deeper, and stay down for longer. (Dive Tech) Earlier, with other diving suits, people could go down only 130 feet for the extremely short time of 10 minutes. (Dive Tech) However, the Jim Suit changed all that! With the Jim Suit, which was based on based on space suits, and had built-in oxygen, divers could stay underwater for two and a half hours, at a whopping depth of 1250 feet! (Dive Tech) A new, helpful invention was the Deepsea Challenger, a revolutionary submersible that featured many innovative ideas. The Deepsea Challenger was invented by a man named James Cameron. Some of its advanced features are that it sits vertically in the water, and has thrusters on top, so as not to disturb the seafloor, allowing for better observation and scientific study. (Dive Tech) These are examples of how ocean exploration technology has gotten better over time!

The oceans have many interesting features and species that new technology might help study. One of these amazing features are hydrothermal vents. Hydrothermal vents are interesting because they expel material that is superheated by magma in the Earth’s core. They also can warm the water around them from a frosty 37 degrees to boiling hot 392 degrees – a 355-degree gap! In addition, an extremely interesting species found deep below the surface is the frilled shark. This deep ocean dweller is five feet long, and lives at 5,000 feet under the surface! According to Oceans: Earth’s Final Frontier, “Scientists include this creature in a group called ‘living fossils’ – animals similar to those who swam the sea in the time of the dinosaurs.” How cool is that! However, there are many other amazing animals that live in the depths. One of these is the fangtooth fish. One of the deepest ocean dwellers, the fangtooth fish is found between 6,500 feet and 16,500 feet! It is only six inches long but has sharp scary teeth! Well named? I think so. These are only a few examples of the vast abundance of life and features in the ocean, that could be researched further using new technology. 

James Cameron is an avid explorer who loves to explore underwater! James Cameron is a movie director who is also an underwater explorer! He has directed the movies Titanic and Avatar as well as diving in a submersible called the Deepsea Challenger, which revolutionized submersibles with its unique features. He has been to the deepest part of the ocean as well! According to the article Lights, Camera, Invention, “that in 2012 traveled to the deepest place on Earth.” In addition to this, James Cameron has also invented new ways of using cameras underwater and controlled them in the wreck of the Bismarck. According to Lights, Camera, Invention, “He introduced new ways of using cameras underwater. Later, he controlled his robotic cameras inside the wreck of the sunken ship Bismarck.” Therefore, James Cameron is an amazing underwater explorer who has done many new things!

In conclusion, technology has gotten better over time, helped us discover new things, and has been assisted by great underwater explorers! This has been amazing, and contributed greatly toward science! Who knows, maybe someday you will invent something, or discover something!