If the Ocean were Transparent

There is no doubt that we need to map out more of the ocean floor. If we approached our desire for knowledge of the ocean like we do our desire for knowledge of space, we could most likely map out the entire ocean floor for about the same cost as an expedition to Mars. Even when looking down into the ocean, or up from the ocean floor, many things are obscured. This, of course, calls into question what we would be able to see if the entire ocean were flooded with light and transparent. The mental imagery is fascinating.

For example, we would be able to spot layers of what look like green mist that are actually phytoplankton. Phytoplankton work to take carbon out of the atmosphere, turning it into organic matter. Additionally, we would be able to spot hundreds of thousands of ships floating on the water’s surface, carrying billions of tons of cargo.

Going much deeper, a transparent ocean would be able to show us all of the life on the ocean floor. There is a large amount of ocean life with which we are not yet familiar. There exists a population of fish that reside far below the surface of the water during the day and find their way to the surface at night, for example. If the water were transparent, we would be able to see one of the largest movements of fish ever.

Most importantly, if the ocean were transparent, researchers would be able to map out all of the imperfections of the ocean floor. Many people think the ocean floor to be flat far beneath the surface, but this is a misguided notion. Most of the pieces of the ocean floor we know vary in depth. There exist seamounts on which water level is slightly higher, and unpredictable dips and crags. Studies of the shifting of tectonic plates are able to explain such phenomena, but we would need to see the ocean floor to explore their effects.

There is no doubt that a transparent ocean would make ocean exploration much easier. Unfortunately, there is no way to make the ocean fully transparent. There is, however, technology we can use to simulate transparency of the ocean for researchers and research vessels. Drones and big data are the two avenues that are projected to be the most reliable. Unscrewed surface vessels would be able to map the ocean floor with a sonar while never having to go into port, as they can be controlled remotely. New methods of data processing can be incorporated into systems that, in effect, could make the ocean ‘transparent.’

As you can see, there are many methods the scientific community could use to make the ocean more transparent. It will be interesting to see how technology evolves to tell us more about the ocean floor in the future!