Oceans
By: Alicia Ellis
Oceans In General
An ocean is a large mass of salt water. An
ocean can have very extreme weather
conditions and if you don’t know what you’re
doing while exploring you could be injured
very easily. If you are planning to explore the
top an ocean you would need a boat or
something that would float. If you are
planning to explore underneath the ocean’s
surface you will need more tools because
there is no air underwater and you wouldn’t be
able to breathe.
Where I’m Researching
I am researching the Depths of the Pacific
Ocean along B.C.’s coast.
What I Am Researching
What I will be researching is ocean
currents. I think that ocean currents would
be interesting to research because even
though sometimes if the ocean’s surface is
completely calm, if you get into a part in
the ocean that has a current it could be as
violent as if there were waves on the
surface. I want to know why those parts
of the ocean don’t apply to the rest of the
ocean.
The Climate Of An Ocean
An ocean’s climate varies, depending on where on
the Earth the ocean is. Generally where we live an
ocean will be fairly cold. That temperature could
change depending on the weather. In polar regions
the ocean there is always cold, and most of the time
the surface of the ocean is frozen. Near the equator
and tropics the ocean is generally warm. That is
because the ocean is so close to the hot equator
and the sun usually beats down on the ocean every
day. Even though In some places The ocean is
generally hot or cold, near the bottom of every
single ocean in the world (no matter where it is
located) the ocean there is cold, dark, and still.
There is no type of weather in the depths of an
ocean but on the surface the weather can vary from
light waves to waves as high as a house.
Are Oceans In Canada?
Yes there are more than 1 ocean that touch Canada , they
are… the Pacific Ocean (North Pacific), the Atlantic Ocean
(North Atlantic), and the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific touches
the West side of Canada. The Atlantic touches the East
side of Canada. The Arctic touches the North side of
Canada
The Conditions That Make It
Difficult To Survive In An Ocean
The most Obvious condition is the lack of air. Humans
aren’t built to get the dissolved oxygen out of the water
like fish and other marine animals can. You can get around
this condition by using an oxygen tank or any other
external source of air. Another condition to exploring
oceans is, even if you have enough air to last a long time
there is the water pressure to take into consideration. You
can use a submarine to get lower in the ocean than you
could with just your body because the submarine would
protect you from more water pressure. But even a
submarine has its limits and would eventually break.
Ocean currents are also an condition to exploring an
ocean. If you don’t know where to go in the ocean you
could be tossed around for forever.
Obstacles To Exploring Oceans
Another obvious obstacle would be the danger of ocean
animals. Even though shark attacks don’t happen often
they still could. There are also other animals that could
hurt you, like jellyfish. Some of the most small jellyfish
could kill you in under a minute. Another obstacle to
exploring an ocean would be the possibility of your
equipment breaking. Let’s say you were traveling in a
submarine and parts of the wall springs a leak, if the
water fills up the submarine you will die. 2 more
obstacles that has to with equipment are, lack of
equipment, and the prices of equipment. If you don’t
have enough money to pay for your equipment you
obviously wouldn’t be able to explore an ocean. Some of
the conditions mentioned in the last page would also
apply here. Those conditions would be, lack of air, and
ocean currents.
Why Oceans Are Important To
Research
If we research oceans they will become more safe for us
to travel on and in. If we didn’t know anything about
oceans there would be way more shipwreck occurrences
around the globe. If we research and explore the ocean
we will know more about I and therefore it will be a
safer place for us humans to sail on or swim/dive in. The
ocean effects the climate of the Earth drastically so if we
know how the ocean is doing we can make a sensible
prediction on how the Earth will change in the next few
years. Another reason to research oceans is that children
need to be educated and if we know more about the
ocean adults can expand children’s knowledge on the
ocean.
What To Use To Explore Oceans
And How These Things Work
If you want to explore the surface of the ocean you would usually use
a vessel. Vessels are vehicles that explore the top of the ocean. Some
vessels can be very big, like a cruise ship. Or Vessels can be as simple
and as small as a row boat. Vessels can be powered by motors or by
you rowing it. There are other ways to power a vessel but I’m not
going to list them all. If you want to explore the ocean depths you
would have a couple different options. One of those options is a
submersible vehicle. (SV.) A SV is a vehicle that explores under the
ocean. An example of an SV is a submarine. Not all SVs have to be able
to hold people though. A ROV (Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle)
ROVs Are controlled by a remote control and are designed to go about
3000’ underwater, where a human would have been crushed because of
water pressure. ROVs are connected to a cable that is connected to a
vessel where the person with the remote will be controlling the ROV. A
ROV can be used for a whole bunch of different purposes. A few of
these are, collecting information about the deep sea, discovering
different types of sea animals and much more. Another option for
exploring under the ocean would be to use a scuba suit. If the
conditions are good enough that the human inside of the suit will not
be hurt a scuba suit can be very helpful. With the suit the human inside
will now be taking possibly more accurate observations. You will also
get to see the ocean firsthand other than through a camera from a ROV
or another kind of SVC like a ROV.
Who Has Explored Oceans Before
One very famous ocean explorer was named Jacques
Cousteau. Jacques was born in France on June 11 1910.
He died in June 25 1997 at 87 years old. A lot of what
we know about the ocean is because of his studies. He
was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist,
filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and
researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in
water. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung, pioneered
marine conservations and was a member of the
Académie française. Some of Jacques’s accomplishments
he maded when he was alive are…
-Inventing the development of the first
watertight 35mm still camera
-Inventing self-righting underwater
sleds for filming in deep water
-Designing the modification of
torpedoes to be used as underwater scooters
-Inventing the first SCUBA (Self
Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus)
What Canada Has Done To Develop
Technology Used For Exploration
In port Coquitlam BC there is a company called
ISE (International Submarine Engineering) At
ISE they don’t necessarily make submarines,
they make ROVs, AUVs (Autonomous
Underwater Vehicles) and other Submersibles. In
St. John’s, Newfoundland And Labrador there
are over 50 ocean technology companies. Those
companies are vital to Newfoundland And
Labrador’s economy. There are also other places
in Canada that contribute to ocean technology
but at the moment I am not going to list them
all.
How You Can Explore Oceans
Safely
If you are planning to explore the surface some ways
that you can explore an ocean safely are by not using a
boat that requires too much fuel, that would pollute the
waters. You could also use a boat that doesn't make
much noise, that would disturb wildlife. If you are
planning to explore the ocean’s depths you can use
submarines that aren’t too big. If it breaks it would be a
huge mess! You could also not use any environmental
hazardous equipment like, a scuba suit, a scuba suit
won’t have any equipment on it that would endanger
oceans there fore not being hazardous. You could also
just not use any equipment at all. Some people do
explore Oceans without any equipment, they are called
‘Free Divers’.
THE END
Bibliography
http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/oceanography-book/whystudytheoceans.htm
http://nides.bc.ca/Assignments/Biomes1/Oclimate.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageseas/deep-article.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_3_obstacles_of_exploring_the_ocean
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icot-icto.nsf/eng/home
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/technology.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cousteau
My parents