But during the Shallow Seas chapter I especially enjoyed the discourse on the ocean's grasslands. I had no idea there was that much sea-grass in some areas on the ocean. Check out this video, I think its around 4 minutes in when they talk about the sea grass... I had no idea.
Also, I enjoyed this TED talk about NOAH. Hopefully they can get the funding they need to continue to explore it more thoroughly. It was interesting the difference in funding that NOAH and NASA receive, and sad at the same time. Another interesting point is how much of the United States land area lies under the ocean... 50% if you can believe it.
I mean, as most of you reading this might know, I'm not one to complain about the money being spent on space exploration. In fact, I think in some ways we're not doing enough. But the ocean is an equally viable source for exploration. And it is much closer to home. You'd think it would cost less than sending rockets up into space... It boggles my mind to think that we've not had the chance to map the entire planet. Though it is also a bit exciting, knowing that more is being done every day.
Things are changing I think, and perhaps global warming might be one of the catalysts that is bringing exploration of the ocean into focus. I think it's good that more attention is being made on the oceans of our world. In fact, now Google Earth allows you to search the ocean like you would the continents, after all, the earth's surface area is 70% water, so why not...
This article was also intriguing, to think that dead coral reef could tell us what the climate and global environment was like 40,000 years ago... Amazing stuff.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/03/03/eod.popsci.species/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Anyways I seem to be rambling today. Hrm.
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