How is it that 70 percent of our planet is made up of oceans, and we only discovered five percent of it? We know more about our solar system than our oceans. They are over a billion years old and we barely know anything about it. There is so much history left waiting to be discovered at the bottom of our oceans. Unfortunately, we have yet to transition our focus to the deep blue.

The longest mountain range on Earth is not on land, but underwater. The mid-ocean ridge is over 45,000 miles long and can reach 3,000 feet above the seafloor. It is the biggest mountain on the planet, but we have barely explored any of it. It is said that we have explored the surface of Venus and Mars more than we did of the massive mid-ocean ridge. Below is a map of the mountain because there is not even a real photograph of it.

If someone wants to learn about the past and see historic items, then that person would probably head to a museum. However, there are more ancient artifacts in the ocean than all of the world’s museums. Whether it be marine dinosaur fossils, sunken ships or chests filled with gold and diamonds, it sits underwater becoming more and more deteriorated. Those artifacts would help us learn so much more than we already know, or what we think we know. Instead of trying to collect them, people tend to ignore the sunken treasures like they are nonexistent. There were many amazing things that were found in the ocean including one of the seven lost temples, an exploded star and living microbes that have not eaten a meal in 86 million years. There is more to discover and that is a fact.

In 2018, scientists discovered 229 new species that live in the ocean. 229 animals managed to stay hidden and undiscovered until last year. Imagine how many animals could still be hiding in the deep blue. There is no way that anyone can say that sea monsters do not exist. Whether it is the Megalodon, Leviathan or Kraken, there is a possibility that they are still hiding in the vast oceans.

Nearly ninety percent of the ocean is pitch black. It is so far down that no sunlight can reach the bottom depths of the oceans. Divers cannot swim that far down to explore the unknown due to the high water pressure, yet there are still plants that thrive underwater and unique animals that survive in the deep ocean. Inventing ways to explore the deep ocean will help us learn how exactly these animals and plants adapt to life with no sun. Just maybe, these discoveries could have a huge impact on the way we are living today. If we can learn how the plants grow underwater, then there is a chance that we can get some plants on Mars.

Discovering our own oceans is important. Whether we don’t have the money to invest in the project or we don’t have the motivation to look into it, we need to start soon before the pollution takes over our oceans.