Unveiling the Depths - The Intense Competition to Mapping Earth's Oceanic Territories
In her captivating new book, "The Deepest Map - The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World's Oceans," award-winning environmental journalist Laura Trethewey takes readers on an enlightening voyage through the vast, unexplored realms beneath the waves. The book highlights the critical importance of ocean mapping, particularly the work of the Nippon Foundation - GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, a global initiative aiming to create a comprehensive map of the ocean floor by 2030.
The project, a high-stakes, international cooperative effort, represents a significant step towards democratizing ocean data, uniting governments, scientists, and technology innovators to accelerate exploration and mapping innovations. This ambitious endeavour is crucial for advancing ocean science, ensuring safe maritime navigation, and improving disaster mitigation, among other benefits.
Mapping the seabed is essential for understanding our oceans, from marine biology and geology to climate studies. Detailed bathymetric data helps researchers track ocean currents, understand ecosystems, and monitor climate change impacts. However, despite covering over 70% of Earth’s surface, less than 20% of the seafloor has been mapped in high resolution, leaving enormous unknown regions.
Technological and logistical challenges, political and funding constraints, and environmental impact concerns present significant hurdles in the quest for comprehensive ocean mapping. Yet, the project incorporates cutting-edge tools such as autonomous underwater drones and satellite-derived data to accelerate mapping. Open data initiatives and collaborative networks are also central to the project, fostering greater scientific and public access.
The book discusses innovations in ocean mapping technology, including the use of crowdsourcing and automation (e.g., robotics) in hydrography. It also aims to answer the question: Why is it important to fill the gaps in our collective knowledge of the oceans. Trethewey emphasizes that maps are critical for conservation, protection, and management of the ocean environment, countering the fear that such information could be used by bad actors.
Politics plays a significant role in ocean mapping, as demonstrated by the author's discussion of the GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN) and the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Nationalistic positions and overlapping commercial, national, and international interests further complicate matters within the ISA.
Trethewey's narrative also delves into the personal, hands-on experiences of those doing the surveying, tying together these experiences with what transpires in meeting rooms and board rooms at the national, regional, and global levels. The book provides enough detail for the average reader to understand the technological challenges and advancements associated with hydrographic surveying.
The book is based on the author's own experiences with the E/V Nautilus and a new hydrographer who worked with the Five Deeps expeditions. It also pays homage to revolutionary maps like those of Marie Tharp, first published by National Geographic in 1967, which gave the public a glimpse of what the seafloor truly looked like, despite being based on very sparse data.
The issue of diversity and inclusion, particularly gender imbalance, is addressed within the hydrographic community, including within the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). The book is recommended as an engaging and enlightening read, offering a compelling argument for the urgency and ambition embodied by the Nippon Foundation - GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project.
In conclusion, "The Deepest Map" is more than just a scientific endeavour; it is a vital mission with profound environmental, geopolitical, and economic implications. The book serves as a call to action, highlighting the importance of filling the gaps in our collective knowledge of the oceans and the role of maps in both exploitation and conservation.
The Nippon Foundation - GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, a high-stakes international cooperative effort, integrates technology innovations such as autonomous underwater drones and satellite-derived data to advance ocean science and accelerate ocean mapping, which is essential for understanding our oceans, especially in relation to marine biology, geology, and climate studies.
Mapping the seafloor is critical for conserving, protecting, and managing the ocean environment, as emphasized by award-winning environmental journalist Laura Trethewey in her book, "The Deepest Map - The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World's Oceans." This project also paves the way for fostering greater scientific and public access through open data initiatives and collaborative networks.
