By: Dr. Richard Spinrad
Image Credit: alles-schlumpf, Creative Commons.
Our ocean and economy are inextricably tied. Last week I had the privilege of participating in Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW), sponsored by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF). CHOW, held annually in Washington, DC, is an extraordinary opportunity to share the latest ocean science with policy makers and representatives of non-governmental organizations and the private sector. In light of the economic challenges facing our Nation, the NMSF chose a timely theme for CHOW, "The Blue Economy: Understanding the Ocean's Role in Our Nation's Financial Future."
In conjunction with CHOW, the National Ocean Economics Program issued "State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2009," the first independent report on the ocean and the U.S. economy. The report shows that in 2007, four in five Americans lived in coastal states, generating 83% of the Nation's economic output, and contributing $11.4 trillion to the national gross domestic product. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) noted, "This report is a wake-up call for the Federal Government. If we don't adequately address issues that affect ocean and coastal communities now and invest in protecting our natural resources, our economy is headed for more serious problems in the future." I could not agree more.
From transportation, tourism, and energy to agriculture, health care, and corals, CHOW speakers touched on almost all sectors of our economy. The panelists and participants engaged in robust discussions about the interdependency of the health of our ocean and our economy, rejecting the notion that we must choose one over the other. I recommend you visit the CHOW 2009 website to see a summary of the event, and some of the fascinating speaker presentations.
I participated on a panel called "Tools and Technology: Exploring and Creating an Ocean Infrastructure," where we discussed recent technological advances helping to improve our understanding of the oceans, as well as what we need to make greater progress in the future. Two weeks ago, I said that Thomas Friedman's description of global climate change as "global weirding" was a good one, yet the Honorable Representative Brian Baird (D-WA) may have him beat with his exceptionally vivid phrase, "lethal overheating of the planet." Rep. Baird's commitment to the health of our ocean is laudable, and he challenged the participants to look beyond their individual research, conservation, or economic agendas to forge a vision of what is needed to protect and improve our understanding of the oceans.
One of the panelists, Tim Richardson from Liquid Robotics, discussed his company's latest tool, the Wave Glider. This incredible observation platform is self-propelled using wave power. Currently a small fleet is cruising the California coast taking oceanographic and atmospheric observation, using no fossil fuels, instead powered only by the waves. In addition, Tim discussed their work for the Jupiter Research Foundation to develop an unmoored, station-keeping data buoy for monitoring humpback whales.
Dr. Elliott Norse, President of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, talked about some of the new tools for tracking and monitoring life in the ocean to improve our ability to manage, conserve, and in some cases sustainable harvest our living ocean resources. Previously, the best scientists could do was attach a tag to a fish or marine mammal and return it to the water, hoping it would resurface and someone would send the information back to them. This gave us information on where the animal began and ended its journey, but almost no information about what happened in between. New tools are giving us a much better picture of the complete journey, often in real time.
Dr. Larry Mayer from the University of New Hampshire pointed out that until the 1940s, our only information about the sea floor came from dropping a lead line off a ship. Since then we have made tremendous strides in improving our understanding of the ocean bottom but there is still a lot left to learn. New mapping tools are showing us features on the ocean floor we've never seen before. For example, mapping the extended continental shelf will help determine U.S. rights over potential oil and gas reserves.
The pace of new technology development is encouraging and exciting, and NOAA researchers and partners are leading the way. Studying the ocean requires not only oceanographers and marine biologists but also engineers and entrepreneurs. These new tools and technologies will help us learn to balance our need for a healthy ocean and healthy economy, but there is so much more to learn. Next week I'll discuss some of the exciting discoveries revealed when we explore our ocean.