It is a bold statement that we have explored less than five percent of the Earth's oceans and seas (Earl 7). But why is that? I've always had a problem with not knowing something, whether it be an ending to a movie or just about the latest current events in the paper. When I don't know something, I become obsessed with it until I do know it. Five percent of anything is considered to be a minuscule amount even for a waiter's tip let alone the entire ocean. Water makes up over ninety percent of the Earth and the fact that we have only explored about five percent of its entirety concerns me deeply. Knowing so little about something that is as large as the ocean makes me ask the question "Why have we explored so little of Earth's total water?". So I have decided I am going to get to the bottom of this overdue question and preferably the ocean as well. .
When people think of the earliest time people explored the oceans, they typically think of Christopher Columbus (Rozwadowski 1). Although Columbus did travel hundreds of miles on the ocean's surface, he did not however venture below. The earliest form of exploring the depths of water was free diving, also known as holding your breath. In 2012, the world record for holding one's breath under water was set at 22 minutes. I on the other hand like most people can only hold my breath for a minute and a half, a mere fraction of the world record. Free diving limits dives to a maximum depth of 30 feet (Day 219). Besides the obvious reasons of lung capacity and the water pressure, I believe humans are only capable of withstanding that depth is because those 30 feet are just enough to scratch our curiosity and pushes us to want to see more. After Dr. Humm, a zoology professor, made his first free dive he had this to say, "My swimming pool was alive with miraculous things that teased my imagination and lured me into the sea: soft white sea anemones, golden-scaled fish, iridescent creatures that resembled nothing I knew on land, except perhaps soap bubbles or rainbows.