ABSTRACT
It is striking how recently the seven-tenths of our planet covered by sea have really become susceptible to study. 1 While vessels have plied the seas for millennia, and great heroic expeditions were launched in the nineteenth century, it has only been about a century since we have really begun to develop the tools to begin to get to understand the maritime depths. Sonar, submersibles, electronic sensing equipment, satellites and computing power are enabling us to understand the geography, chemistry and biology of the deep oceans as never before. 2
