Less than one percent of the ocean is protected. I think we’re getting close to two percent right now,
which is incredible, that 70 percent of the planet, we know so little about it, so little of it is protected.
So there is a huge initiative underway to get more large-scale marine protected areas established.
The Okeanos Explorer and this expedition will really complement the management plans for the Marianas Trench Monument.
After each of the legs are complete, we receive an expedition summary with the data and mapping collected that will help us identify the various communities that live there.
We’ll sit down with the Monument managers and we’ll fine tune our best management practices or ways to protect the Monument.
Sometimes it’s important just to get these places established and protected,
and then we get the support and momentum needed for everybody to come together to put together a management plan,
and a vision for the future.
It’s so important to have the Okeanos expedition here in the Mariana Trench right now.
For the first time, the managers have been able to work with the scientists and the ship crew, discussing where we want to go,
and planning and�prioritizing and selecting the areas to be mapped and followed by the ROV.
It’s amazing technology and we’re honored to have the ship out here.
We’ve already identified dozens of potentially new species and we’re setting records for the region.
This is just amazing that we have this opportunity. It just makes me so excited.
It’s like, wow, can you imagine being the first person to see the Grand Canyon?
The Grand Canyon is…if you’re the first person,you lay eyes on the horizon and it’s just the orange and red intricate geography and phenomena there.
You would just want to jump up and down and share with the world.
Well, the Mariana Trench is five times longer and five times deeper.
And we could very well have another one of the Seven Wonders of the World,
but because it’s out of sight out of mind, we don’t even know what’s down there.
This is just the next step, this is the first time we’ve had this telepresence capability offered in the Mariana Trench.
It’s just exciting. In fact, so many people here on Guam are just enthralled
and they can’t stop watching it, like I can’t stop watching when the ROV is down, exploring.