Celebrating the Ocean With Sylvia Earle

Heres a program from our archives.ambience, Great Barrier Reef A poet once wrote, “Fantastic ocean doth enfold – the likeness of what’er on land is seen.” The ocean is a fantastic place. And who better to tell us about it than Dr. Sylvia Earle, chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She’s logged over 5,000 hours underwater and set many deep-sea diving records. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.The sounds we’re listening to were recorded underwater at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.Earle: Going underwater is wonderful. It’s possible to see the ocean as fish and whales and creatures who live there see the sea. The oceans are fundamental to the character of planet earth. It is the place where most of the living space on the planet occurs. When you think about the occupied part of the land, the surface and up to the tops of trees and into the sky for a short distance, where birds fly and a few spiders waft along on their fragile webs, but the ocean from the surface all the way to the bottom is filled with life. I like to refer to it sometimes as, ‘living minestrone.’ Every spoonful has something in it, but that something is very much alive. The average depth is about 14,000 feet. That’s a lot of water, a lot of water filled with life, it isn’t just water.It’s just an absolutely magnificent treasure trove of action. A place that I just long to be.This archival program is part of our thirtieth anniversary celebration. If you want hear more, check out our podcast.

Celebrating the Ocean With Sylvia Earle

The ocean contains a cornucopia of life.
Air Date:11/23/2018
Scientist:
Transcript:

Heres a program from our archives.ambience, Great Barrier Reef A poet once wrote, "Fantastic ocean doth enfold - the likeness of what'er on land is seen." The ocean is a fantastic place. And who better to tell us about it than Dr. Sylvia Earle, chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She's logged over 5,000 hours underwater and set many deep-sea diving records. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.The sounds we're listening to were recorded underwater at Australia's Great Barrier Reef.Earle: Going underwater is wonderful. It's possible to see the ocean as fish and whales and creatures who live there see the sea. The oceans are fundamental to the character of planet earth. It is the place where most of the living space on the planet occurs. When you think about the occupied part of the land, the surface and up to the tops of trees and into the sky for a short distance, where birds fly and a few spiders waft along on their fragile webs, but the ocean from the surface all the way to the bottom is filled with life. I like to refer to it sometimes as, 'living minestrone.' Every spoonful has something in it, but that something is very much alive. The average depth is about 14,000 feet. That's a lot of water, a lot of water filled with life, it isn't just water.It's just an absolutely magnificent treasure trove of action. A place that I just long to be.This archival program is part of our thirtieth anniversary celebration. If you want hear more, check out our podcast.