The Quest for the Unknown
Ocean—the world beneath. Realm with many uncharted territories and flora and fauna we are unbeknownst to. Sir David Attenborough's famous statement, "We know more about Mars and the moon than we do about the deep ocean," clearly states the vastness of these boundless oceans.
Deep-sea exploration is an oceanographical field that focuses on research and discovery of deep oceans. But what really is the deep ocean? The ocean beneath 1000 m vertically from ocean level can be categorized as deep sea (but variations of its definition can be seen). Not even light can penetrate these waters, with extreme pressures (about 1000 atm) and temperatures plummeting to freezing point and even below it. Communication isn't possible, as radio waves don't travel well underwater. All these factors combined make these explorations more challenging as well as fatal.
Despite the odds, the Deep Sea exploration missions have gradually increased in recent years, but the history of these explorations dates back to the 1870s when the first mission was conducted by HMS Challenger, which gave the first insights into these fathomless oceans, following the footsteps many bathysphere (a spherical submersible used in deep sea diving) dives and Underwater surveys were conducted, which resulted in mapping the ocean floor and topographical surveys of these water bodies. Interestingly, till now, only 20 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped by using Sonar and Satellite Altimetry- which uses satellites to study the troughs and crests formed at the ocean's surface due to seabed geography.
With time, new technologies paved the way for more detailed research of the deep seas, but the question arises: why do we need to delve deep into these unknown waters ?. Well, there are plenty of reasons behind these missions, like finding out Earth's marine biodiversity, finding rare earth materials, oil and gas reserves, understanding the deep currents to predict the shifts of tectonic plates and climate change, and many more.
In the earlier expeditions, due to lack of equipment, human dives were not possible in those treacherous conditions. During the 1930s, American marine biologist William Beebe conducted the first-ever bathysphere dive near the coast of Bermuda. Following its success, he effectively dove around thirty times and pioneered the way deep-sea manned dives are performed. After these bathysphere dives, innovation in the field of deep oceans skyrocketed, giving rise to ROVs (remotely operated vehicles), AUVs (automated underwater vehicles), and manned submersibles. They significantly improved reliability, efficiency, and maneuverability.
The first major discovery among the deep ocean's endless secrets was the 'Mariana Trench'—the world's deepest point, which is around 11 km deep from the ocean level. This is just a 'drop in the ocean,' as many 'deep' mysteries are yet to be unraveled.
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| The Deep Discoverer ROV's at 6000 meters in Mariana Trench. |
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| The wreck of 'Titanic' discovered in 1985 during Argo expedition . The depth of the wreckage is found to be 3,840 m. |
As the future of deep-sea missions is rising exponentially, the Indian government has also taken the initiative to explore deep seas under the mission 'Samudrayaan,' which undertakes the deep-sea exploration focused mainly on Indian exclusive economic zones. The mission aims for the exploration and extraction of minerals, which can be used in electronic devices, batteries, and solar panels. The government has allocated Rs. 4,077 crore for this mission with a five-year plan. The objectives of this mission also include sending at least three men at 6000 meters in the deep-sea submergence vehicle the 'Matsya 6000'; the first submergence test of the submersible was already successful in 2024. Let's hope for the best, as India is on the cusp of achieving yet another milestone.
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| The 'Matsya 6000' submersible during its testing phase. |