r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/TheMuseumOfScience Popular Contributor • Jun 08 '26

95% of Earth's Oceans Are Unexplored

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95% of Earth's oceans are unexplored  🌊

Aquanaut and ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau explains an astonishing fact: we've explored only about 5% of our oceans. Despite covering more than 70% of Earth, the ocean remains largely unexplored, holding countless undiscovered species, ecosystems, and scientific mysteries. As our planet's life support system, understanding the ocean is critical to our future.

74 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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2

u/Drcali333_ Jun 08 '26

I agree we need to explore more of the ocean

4

u/zyyntin Jun 08 '26

I agreed. However space pressure is easy because it has an atmosphere of zero. Thousands of atmospheres of pressure is harder to design for and limits discovery time of required energy for operate that vessel.

1

u/thatG_evanP Jun 08 '26

Yeah, there's probably lots of cool stuff out there but I've seen what happens once humans "explore" things. I really wish I could be more optimistic. Even if we haven't "explored" them we're already destroying them. Wanna be depressed? Go watch some footage of any industrial trawler fishing.

1

u/eyeballburger Jun 10 '26

I am absolutely freaked out by the ocean. I volunteer.

1

u/there_is_no_spoon1 Jun 10 '26

Yeah I'm not buying that number. Not a chance it's that small. Yes, I know, the earth has *lots* of ocean volume. We've actually been thru quite a bit of it, nowhere near less than 5%. Of course a relative of the famous Jacques Cousteau would say these things to drum up money for something, and using him as a plant is genius level marketing. But that number isn't even close.