The Astonishing Deep Sea

We can't keep on using the ocean as a sewer and a supermarket at the same time

By Marie Kjellsdotter. Photo: Lance Yamamoto / Kip Evans

As a daughter of a marine biologist and marine zoologist… and a stepfather that was ichthyologist, and a second stepfather that was a marine engineer… there is no understatement in saying: Liz Taylor grew up with the ocean.

Diving deep into – and spreading knowledge about – the fairly unknown, mysterious and amazing deep sea is Liz Taylor’s every day life. Under the surface in their self-developed submersibles (DOER Marine Operations) she, together with her mother Dr Sylvia Earle, research, explore and observe the deepest and darkest parts of our oceans.

What is a submersible, and what do we need them for?

“A submersible is a small underwater vessel, carrying 2-5 people. It’s run entirely on batteries, which makes it rely on a surface support ship for long distance transport and charging, unlike a submarine that is self-sufficient.

A submersible is a complete game-changing asset when exploring the deep sea. Not only for scientist but also for ordinary people, to help us all understand what’s happening under the surface. The ocean always looks so beautiful at the surface but once we get below the surface we can see the impact of the damage that has been done.

The difference in experience that a submersible gives us is like if you imagine for instance going to Africa to see the wild animals and doing so by flying over and lowering down a camera from a helicopter… that’s a completely different experience than a Land Rover safari in the bush. Exploring the ocean in a submersible will in the same way allow you to have all of your senses and peripheral vision. You can follow a hunch, your curiosity is free to explore without being attached to the ship as when using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). You have the ability to stop, wait and observe, and have a more complete understanding of the ecosystem you are exploring. Both are valuable tools but very different experiences.”

It’s said that only 5 percent of the ocean floor has been explored. Why do we need to explore the ocean floor?

“Every drop of the ocean between the surface and the floor is full of life. In our submersible we have the capacity to gently descend at any speed to observe and make connections between the very small planktonic animals, the drifting animals, and all the animals and plants in the ocean that together are making up the fabric of the life support system we all depend on. We have taken that for granted for a really long time, so bringing that direct awareness to people can really help them understand why the ocean does matter. You can see some fantastic forms that have evolved over eons of time in very delicate elaborated creatures, in very slow moving creatures, incredible creatures that have light and all kinds of body forms that have adapted them to the deep sea… so it’s very inspirational not only for scientists but also for an artist or ordinary citizens to have that element of discovery and seeing something with fresh eyes for the new time. We find something new on every single dive into the deep so it’s just an incredible awareness heightening experience that help us really grasp how reliant we are on the ocean for our survival.”

Dr Sylvia Earle deep down in a submersible

Diving deep into the ocean sounds, contradictorily enough, both super exciting and super scary to me. How does it feel to hover around in the deep ocean in a submersible?

“Some people might find it scary and off-putting to think about going deep into the ocean but with the submersible you are in a one-atmosphere environment, meaning that you are not experiencing the kinds of pressures, temperatures and harsh environments like for example a scuba diver experiences when trying to go deep. Inside the submersible there is no decompression, you have a full view of what is going on around you, and it’s really much safer than getting into your car and drive to the market.”

My fascination with the ocean took me to the Great Barrier Reefs in the 80s, to get my scuba open water diver certificate. In retrospect, I realize that I have actually experienced an underwater world that no longer exists.

“True! With any of us growing up with access to the ocean and the opportunity to get in to scuba dive or just snorkelling – we are all witnesses to the rapid change that is going on. The loss of biodiversity, the loss of the big fish due to the very heavy non-sustainable industrial fishing practices, and of course the affect of everything we put into the ocean. I have always said – we can’t use the ocean as a sewer and a supermarket at the same time. We are reliant on the ocean for production of the oxygen that we breathe, and it controls the weather patterns and the great currents. The ocean is a very delicate system that has been billions of years in the making, and yet we’ve managed to unravel so much of it in just the last century. It’s shocking.”

What do you see as the biggest threat to the ocean?

“I guess it’s the simultaneous action of extracting ocean wildlife on an industrial scale, and also using the ocean as an industrial dumping ground. We’ve had this notion that we can just keep diluting wastewater and plastic by putting it under the surface where no one will see it. It’s that real dynamic of what we are putting in and what we are taking out at the same time, that has put the ocean now at an incredible stress point.

And now that we know that’s the greatest sign of hope. We know today how important it is to protect our oceans, unlike for 50 or 100 years ago when we thought that the ocean was just to big for us to have any sort of impact on it. Now we know that we are impacting the ocean. We know that there is just so much the ocean can absorb and swallow without getting harmed by it. And this knowledge gives us no excuse to keep on doing business as usual. We have to acknowledge what has happened and make positive steps to correct past behaviour.”

The debate is in everyone’s face, all the time. Knowledge is power but can also be frightening and paralyzing… yet we have to know things, to do things. What can you do for the ocean, as a single individual?

“There are so many things we can do as individuals and communities that can make a difference. Governments as we sometime see can be slow moving and ponderous. But the good news is, as citizens we remain very nimble, and we all have the ability to make better choices in our daily purchasing habits and daily consumptions.

Some of the obvious changes that you can do as individuals, which we hear a lot about, are striving to eliminate single-use plastics from our lives through the choices we make. Why not leave the products in plastic on the shelves. An action that would rapidly drive manufactures to react when their products aren’t selling, and with some luck provoke them to adapt to better packaging methods. We also need to be aware of the carbon footprint of things we buy, and reflect over if there are alternatives produced locally with less carbon impact on the environment. It does make more sense to buy local grown and seasonal foods, than products that have been shipped 10,000 miles to reach our market.”

Finally, who would be a dream guest to accompany you on a dive into the deep see …if you could choose anyone?

“It’s hard to choose but I love the idea of taking a musician – maybe someone popular – who has always been kind of terrestrial, down with me in the submersible. Let them see the lightshow, hear the sounds, witness the curiosity of the fish that come to visit the vessel, and then to see them take that experience and communicate it through music to their base of fans. I feel that we really need to reach the people that haven’t been reached, particularly the young people who may be a bit afraid of the ocean… afraid of the sharks, afraid of the jellyfish. So to take a musician that has such communication power and let them experience the deep sea to see how it would be interpreted into music – would be a dream guest to me.”