A HISTORY OF OCEANOGRAPHY

Human Use of the Ocean Humans began using the ocean long before there was a formal
science of oceanography. In early times, the ocean was used mainly for food. We eat fish,
shrimp, clams, squid, seaweed, and much more. About 1/6th of our protein comes from the
ocean, closer to 1/3rd if you include all the small fish that are ground up into fish meal and fed to
cattle, chicken, pigs, etc. to make them grow faster. (Isnt modern agribusiness great?) Another
important use is transportation: it is much easier and cheaper to move goods and people over the
ocean than over land. This was obviously true in the past when the seas were ruled by sailing
ships which relied on the free power supplied by the wind. It remains true even today: huge
cargo ships cross the ocean with objects made in places like China to stock the shelves of WalMart and other stores. If transporting goods across the ocean was expensive, then these items
would cost a lot more. Today, food and transportation are still important uses of the ocean, but
they are joined by a third major use: energy; about 1/3 rd of the worlds oil and natural gas is
pumped out of the ocean floor.