Challenger Expedition Baseline Reveals Ocean Crises and Conservation Hope

Key Quotes

"my goal in writing the book was to show that it's not a matter of historical curiosity only that in fact challenger has a fresh and urgent story to tell us and that is that it gives us this unique snapshot of the oceans as they were 150 years ago and we can compare what challenger saw in its three year voyage to how our oceans are today and there've been a great many changes that i talk about in the book"

Gillen D'Arcy Wood explains that the HMS Challenger expedition is not just a historical event but offers a vital comparison point for understanding current ocean conditions. Wood's goal was to highlight the urgent relevance of this historical data by contrasting the oceans of 150 years ago with their state today, emphasizing the significant changes that have occurred.

"the achievements of hms challenger are legendary they brought back in in bottles and crates 5 000 new marine creatures unknown to science they recorded temperature data at the sea surface and at depth all across the globe they measured deep sea currents they mapped the sea floor and really paved the way for the modern theories of plate tectonics and they plunged the mariana trench which is the deepest part of the world's oceans"

Wood details the monumental scientific contributions of the HMS Challenger expedition, underscoring its foundational role in oceanography. The expedition's discoveries, including thousands of new species and extensive data on ocean temperature, currents, and the seafloor, laid the groundwork for major scientific theories and explorations.

"i wanted to tell that story retell it but i wanted to shift the focus really to the marine life itself and to make as you say to make the marine creatures the stars of the show and have the scientists really just be a kind of vehicle for telling the stories of the amazing creatures that inhabit the deep sea"

Wood articulates his "biocentric" narrative approach, explaining that he chose to center the story on marine life rather than solely on the human explorers. This perspective elevates the creatures discovered by the Challenger expedition to the main characters, with the scientists serving as conduits to explore their stories and significance.

"the fact that they converted a royal navy warship and turned it into a floating marine science academy they appointed six scientists there was a crew of 250 men they sailed for three and a half years no expense was spared they had the latest cutting edge technology available to them and of course what they had was the most importantly was the infrastructure of the british empire"

Wood emphasizes the unprecedented scale and resources of the HMS Challenger expedition, highlighting its transformation into a dedicated floating laboratory. The combination of advanced technology, a large scientific and crew contingent, and the extensive support of the British Empire allowed for a comprehensive and unparalleled global oceanographic survey.

"the three main issues confronting the oceans today are overfishing ocean warming and also plastic pollution i'll take them each of the three of these one at a time and in a chapter that i write about the challenger's visit to japan and their encounter with the infant japanese salmon fishing industry i talk about how our seafood consumption over the 20th century has increased eight or tenfold not particularly since the second world war that 90 of larger fish in the higher levels of the food chain thinking salmon and tuna and cod have been depleted from the oceans"

Wood identifies overfishing, ocean warming, and plastic pollution as the primary threats facing contemporary oceans, drawing a connection to historical observations from the Challenger voyage. He points out the drastic depletion of large fish populations since the 20th century, illustrating the severe impact of modern fishing practices.

"the story of the green turtles shows us that there is a baseline resilience in ocean life and that all these creatures need is a chance is a kind of fighting chance to bounce back and it's an opportunity for us you know as the human community to cooperate and to create new bonds with these animals we so admire and have so relied on in the past and to help them flourish with us you know in the world rather than seeing our relationship to the world as sort of purely exploitative and consuming without thought"

Wood uses the recovery of green turtles as a hopeful example of ocean conservation, demonstrating the resilience of marine life. He argues that with protection and a shift from exploitation to cooperation, species can rebound, suggesting that a sustainable coexistence with ocean creatures is possible and essential for a better future.