What kind of research is there in marine biology?

The sciences of marine biology and oceanography were born hundreds of years ago....

After the naturalists on the early European expeditions, exploration continued through the 19th century; in 1872 the first worldwide ‘oceanography’ expedition started with HMS Challenger.

Research into the drifting dispersal of objects through the ocean surfaces of the world has also been an important ongoing field.

It has implications for ecology and biogeography, and also has more practical applications for humans; knowing these conditions will assist in predicting what area may be most affected by an oil spill in a particular area, or aid rescuers or salvagers trying to locate lost or wrecked sea-going vessels based on their last known position.

To this end, there have been many marine studies trying to determine how things float, what the surface sea currents are, and where the floating objects end up.

Several different experiments have been tried, including of course the most obvious one; thousands of ‘message bottles’ have been released.

Many are very light and tend to float high in the water, thus they are often more indicative of wind than water currents, so most of the bottles in the scientific studies are weighted down.

Other techniques have been used, including lightweight plastic ‘drift cards’, which are released, then recorded where they wash up on distant shores.

Some accidents have also given scientists the opportunity to figure out such currents.

In 1990 a ship lost 40,000 pairs of Nike sneakers in the mid-Pacific, with scientists recording their arrival on the west coast of North America more than 6 months later.

A few years later a similar incident occurred with a cargo of 29,000 plastic bath toys.

Research into the area of marine biology and oceanography continued throughout the 20th century with increasing technology.

For example; the development of recording sound just under the ocean surface enabled us to hear the different songs of whales.

Perhaps the most useful technology and the biggest leap is the advent of remote sensing through satellites. This enables measurements without even being on the surface of the ocean, including difficult to access areas.

It also encouraged the development of ‘big picture’ observations with wide-ranging maps of weather, water temperature, and surface currents.

This information includes edited extracts from the book: Ecosystem Guide to Ocean Surfaces of Australasia.