Exploring the Awesome Depths of the Ocean with Susan Casey

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Casey, a premiere chronicler of the aquatic world, highlights the complexity and ecological importance of the ocean's depths as she shares her personal and historical perspectives on exploring its mysteries. We are oddly unacquainted with its depths and importance, which make up more than 70% of Earth’s surface, notwithstanding its depth. Hear her reports on diving to the pulsing night-club-like life of the Twilight Zone (600-3300 feet) that is filled with bioluminescent creatures that sparkle and glow. Despite these delights, Casey points to the terrestrial bias and lack of funding for ocean exploration compared to space. More money is spent on space travel than on understanding the complexity and ecological importance of our ocean. Research shows how deep-sea mining could have severe consequences for the ocean's ecosystem. There is a need for a better understanding of the ocean's role in regulating the planet's chemistry before engaging in any large-scale mining activities, notwithstanding the quadrillions of yet undiscovered animals that live and thrive there. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Susan Casey is a premiere chronicler of the aquatic world. Most recently she traversed the globe and gives first-hand accounts of joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet. She stands in for us with her insightful questions of the lives and motivations of marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers who are searching for knowledge in this vast unseen realm. She takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of deep-sea exploration, from the myths and legends of the ancient world to storied shipwrecks, to the first intrepid bathysphere pilots, to the scientists who are just beginning to understand the mind-blowing complexity and, most importantly, the ecological importance of the home of the quadrillions of creatures who live in realms long thought to be devoid of life.

Susan Casey is the author of several books including:

• Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Survival and Obsession Among American’s Great White Sharks (Henry Holt 2005)
• The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean (Doubleday 2010)
• Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins (Anchor 2016)
• Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean (Doubleday 2023)

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

•  Casey recounts childhood fascination with the underwater world in Canadian lakes
• What was the 1538 map, the Carta Marina, created by Olaus Magnus
• The significance of the Challenger as the first deep sea expedition, funded by Queen Victoria from 1872-73
• How Wyville Thompson and John Murray, aboard the Challenger in 1875, discovered the Mariana Trench, the lowest depth of the ocean seabed
• How William Beebe and Otis Barton, in 1930, became the first men to dive in a Bathysphere to the Twilight Zone, 3,028 feet down.
• What is the difference between a remotely controlled and a manned submersible
•  How deep-sea mining poses deep ecological consequences
• How, in 1960, Captain Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard successfully reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench in a bathyscaphe called the Trieste
•  How plastics have been found embedded in the bodies of sea creatures, even those that live in the Mariana Trench
• Ocean exploration requires deep humility and an attitude to submit to the ocean's rules rather than seeking to conquer them
• How Don Walsh and Patrick Leahy have had a significant impact on Casey’s life and work.

Host: Justine Willis Toms    Interview Date: 8/5/2024   Program Number: 3825

Music Playlist

From Album: Greatest Hits Deluxe Edition
Artist: Paul Winter

Opening Essay: Track 04 (bonus CD) Ocean Dream
From Album: Callings

Music Break 1: Track 04 - Lullaby From The Great Mother Whale For The Baby Seal Pups (excerpt)
Music Break 2: Track 04 - Lullaby From The Great Mother Whale For The Baby Seal Pups (excerpt)
Music Break 3: Track 04 - Lullaby From The Great Mother Whale For The Baby Seal Pups (excerpt)