Beneath the waves

Diving into ocean technology

Avery Wong and Sydney Tao

The deep sea is one of Earth’s greatest mysteries. Despite the ocean being just miles away from many research institutes, only around 5% of it has been explored by humans, according to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. This creates the possibility that solutions to the world’s problems might be right under our feet.

The ocean is a large body of salt water that covers about 71% of Earth’s surface. The ocean greatly impacts the weather, temperature, and food supply of humans and other organisms. However, so much of the deep sea is unexplored due to immense pressure underwater. Oceanographers have been working hard to develop new technological advancements to discover more about the ocean and what may lie under the surface.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), modern oceanography did not begin until World War II, when the U.S. Navy wanted to learn more about the oceans to gain advantages during the war. By the late 1950s and 1960s, underwater vehicles, known as submersibles, revolutionized oceanographic exploration. After the invention of underwater vehicles, ocean technology companies have progressed by creating more efficient ways to explore the ocean.

Sofar Ocean is an ocean technology company seeking to connect the world’s oceans to power a more sustainable future. They aim to deliver largescale ocean data to accelerate climate insights and use it to develop a greater understanding of the environment to contribute to a more sustainable planet.

“Sofar’s mission is to close that data gap across the global ocean by developing and deploying a network of small basketball-sized buoys that observe the ocean surface in real time. Sofar uses those observations together with a global wave model to predict ocean surface conditions like waves out to about a week into the future,” said Christie Hegermiller, a marine weather modeler at Sofar.

These spotter buoys are affordable metocean buoys that collect and transmit wave, wind, sea surface temperature, and barometric pressure data. Sofar releases hundreds of them into the ocean to drift around different basins to measure ocean waves, atmospheric pressure, and sea surface temperature to provide a picture of what marine is at sea. The company is working to integrate new capabilities, such as a hydrophone to listen to underwater sounds.

“Our spotter buoys are rigorously tested both in the lab space and in the field by a series of instruments that are designed to put as much pressure on the buoy as possible. These instruments put as much pressure on the green as possible to simulate what it might experience out in the ocean. Our technologies are also tested in what we call Sofar Harbor, which is the San Francisco Bay, and in an offshore ocean beach to ensure they can survive real ocean conditions,” Hegermiller said.

There are many companies similar to Sofar that aim to make discoveries in the ocean. The idea that the possibilities are endless is what keeps the hunt for sea exploration alive despite so many challenges. As stated on Sofar’s website, “Ocean data is next to non-existent. We know more about the surface of the moon than the waters surrounding us.”

But why have only 5% of the Earth’s oceans been explored? After all, it’s a resource that is very close in proximity to humans. In an interview with Oceana, a sea conservation nonprofit, Oceanographer Dr. Gene Carl Feldman explained, “On a dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is nearly seven miles deep, you’re talking about over 1,000 times more pressure than at the surface. That’s the equivalent of the weight of 50 jumbo jets pressing on your body.”

Tyler Newman, a senior at Carlmont, is the president of the Mission Marine club, which focuses on learning about marine biology and ocean conservation.

“I think technology is not developing very quickly because we have focused

more on what’s not on our planet. Technology development has shifted rapidly to outer space exploration reaching mars and other planets,” Newman said.

With that in mind, it may be shocking to know that around 4% to 5% of outer space has been explored, according to Pursuit, a research institution from The University of Melbourne. The Earth’s ocean is much smaller and much closer to human society than outer space, yet, they have roughly the same percentage of explored territory.

“In some ways, it’s a lot easier to send people into space than it is to send people to the bottom of the ocean,” Feldman said.

Human interest also plays a significant role in funded research. According to the USAspending, the official government website to track spending data, NASA alone received $29.2 billion in 2022. In contrast, the National Ocean Exploration Act was granted a total of $1.4 billion to distribute amongst multiple research programs.

“The media covers much more about space developments because most will be more interested in space exploration than deep sea exploration. Media is meant to make money for companies and will therefore cater to people’s interests,” Newman said.

Many people view outer space as humanity’s future, which is reflected in the federal donation comparisons. Although exploring the deep sea may seem like an impossible task, it is also very necessary.

“Just one of the reasons that I think is really important is that the ocean is roughly half of our climate system. So it stores a tremendous amount of carbon cycled through ocean plankton all the way up to marine mammals,” Hegermiller said. “And it also stores a tremendous amount of heat, which is a trade that has buffered us as our system has formed.”

The ocean is crucial to the planet’s current state, but it could also extend to a much larger image for the future.

Angela Kou, a double major in environmental biology and sustainable environmental design at the University of California, Berkeley, expresses her opinion on ocean exploration.

“I believe that exploring the deep sea is important because there is so much to discover, whether it be new species, information, or resources that humans can use,” Kou said. “I think there are definitely animals that have adaptations that can be emulated through biomimicry in medicine.”

The NOAA also states that ocean’s biodiversity could lead to the next major medical breakthrough. Their research shows positive results for antibiotic and anti-cancer substances through marine invertebrates. Discodermolide is a chemical compound extracted from deep-sea sponges, which acts as an anti-tumor agent.

The farthest depths of the ocean have been one of Earth’s greatest mysteries for years, the deepest part being over 36,000 feet below sea level. Medicine, animals, and even mermaids could be below the surface, waiting to be found.