History of Marine Science

Question 1

Marine Science definition

Answer 1

The union of marine biology and oceanography - the study of life in the ocean as it is affected by the physical and chemical characteristics

Question 2

Micronesians and Phoenicians relationships with the ocean

Answer 2

• familiar with marine life
• engineered outrigger canoes as big as 40 feet long
• determined the location of islands by observing the flight of birds, the presence or absence of certain fish, and the pattern of wave swells
• navigated by the stars – no compass, no GPS, no sextant, no charts

Question 3

Aristotle

Answer 3

• Ancient Greek philosophers studied crustaceans, annelid worms, molluscs and echinoderms, and fish.
• recognized cetaceans (dolphins, whales, etc.) as mammals.
• Named the 5-tooth mouth structure in sea urchins; Aristotle’s Lantern
• Father of marine biology

Question 4

James Cook

Answer 4

- English sea captain and
   cartographer
- Set sail in 1766 on the Endeavor
- collected specimens
- Killed by Hawaiian natives in 1779 over stolen boat

Question 5

Charles Darwin

Answer 5

• English scientist traveled oceans
• HMS Beagle (1831)
• Observations formed basis of evolutionary theory
• Studied beaks and formation of coral reefs
• Studied plankton and barnacles

Question 6

Edward Forbes

Answer 6

• English scientist
• Dredged seafloor in 1840, discovered unknown organisms
• Brought attention to the seafloor
• Recognized life was different at different depths
• Azoic hypothesis: claimed life was absent at depths below 1800 feet due to lack of light and pressure

Question 7

HMS Challenger

Answer 7

• 1872
• British outfitted a warship for science
• Led by Charles Wyville Thompson
• 3 ½ years around the world, making observations, collecting data
• research filled 50 2-inch thick volumes and took 19 years to publish
  disproved Azoic claim of no life below 1800 feet
  found life at 26,000 feet
  4700 new species discovered

Question 8

HMS Challenger II

Answer 8

• 1951
• English refitted a battleship for scientific studies
• Depth measurements
• Recorded deepest part of ocean —- 35000ft in Pacific (10, 920 m)
• 2 men descended to that depth in a bathysphere

Question 9

Jacques Cousteau

Answer 9

• Born in 1910
• Pioneer in bringing public attention to the oceans
• Hosted “The undersea world of Jacques Cousteau” from 1968-1976.
  Founded the Cousteau Society in 1973 for the protection of the oceans
• Invented the aqualung in 1943 during WWII to search for underwater mines

Question 10

United States Exploring Expedition

Answer 10

• 1838
• Lt. Charles Wilkes
• Hoped to disprove theory of holes in earth that went through to the hollow core
• Proved existence of Antartica

Question 11

Louis Agassiz

Answer 11

• 1873
• Harvard prof.
• The Blake, collected more specimens supporting Challenger data

Question 12

Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory

Answer 12

• Changed over time to become Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1929)
• Leading research facility

Question 13

Robert Ballard

Answer 13

• Underwater explorer
• Discovered Titanic in 1985
• Hydrothermal vents in 1977 (Black smokers)
• President of the Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Connecticut

Question 14

Dr Sylvia Earle

Answer 14

• Pioneering women in marine science
• Grew up in NJ, not from Atlantic City
• Earned a PhD from Duke
• Deep sea explorer, wore a Jim Suit and set a record at 1250ft