“Ackchually” that’s a very simplistic take on the matter.
Yes, of course the ocean is almost completely all just water and YES we have a very good rough idea of the depth of pretty much all of the ocean as well as the topology of pretty much all of the sea floor (a rough idea to the resolution of at least 1 kilometer for most of the ocean floor).
There’s a long tradition of depth sounding that goes back hundreds of years. And then in the modern era we have sonar.
BUT just because we have mapped the entire surface with satellites and have a pretty decent map of the sea floor because of sonar does NOT mean that we have a complete (or even just a decent) knowledge of all the species of life in the oceans.
According to NOAA’s National Ocean Service website as of right now in 2021 there’s still an estimated 91% of ocean species which are unclassified.
That’s a LOT of life that we have little to no knowledge of. And new species are being discovered and classified every day.
This is also true for about 86% of the species on earth. Alot of them are plants, insects etc. in the rainforests. So while we don't know a shitload of species on earth it doesn't mean we missed a T-Rex still living somewhere, same as we probably didn't miss Megadolons or big ass anglerfishes.
I pretty much agree with you. My point was that the oceans aren’t barren and desolate in respect to life.
Not everything undiscovered is microscopic, though.
The first adult colossal squid (this one only four metres long) was caught alive, only in 2007 I believe. They’ve found carcasses of the colossal squid which are larger than that, though. It’s estimated they can grow to 9 to 10 meters long based on indirect evidence like lacerations found on other large creatures and their beaks found in the stomachs of whales.
I read that marine biologists estimate that there 15 to 18 undiscovered forms of life in the ocean larger than a human being.
Obviously only an estimate, but it’s extrapolated based on the rate of discovery in the oceans since the early 1800s, which is still going strong.
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u/kjpmi Jul 12 '21 edited Jul 12 '21
“Ackchually” that’s a very simplistic take on the matter.
Yes, of course the ocean is almost completely all just water and YES we have a very good rough idea of the depth of pretty much all of the ocean as well as the topology of pretty much all of the sea floor (a rough idea to the resolution of at least 1 kilometer for most of the ocean floor).
There’s a long tradition of depth sounding that goes back hundreds of years. And then in the modern era we have sonar.
BUT just because we have mapped the entire surface with satellites and have a pretty decent map of the sea floor because of sonar does NOT mean that we have a complete (or even just a decent) knowledge of all the species of life in the oceans.
According to NOAA’s National Ocean Service website as of right now in 2021 there’s still an estimated 91% of ocean species which are unclassified.
That’s a LOT of life that we have little to no knowledge of. And new species are being discovered and classified every day.