We need a NASA-like organization for ocean exploration, because we need to be exploring and protecting our life support systems here on Earth. Edith Widder More Quotes by Edith Widder More Quotes From Edith Widder We've only explored about five percent of our ocean. There are great discoveries yet to be made down there, fantastic creatures representing millions of years of evolution and possibly bioactive compounds that could benefit us in ways that we can't even yet imagine. Edith Widder ocean discovery years Exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth. So let's all go exploring. Edith Widder exploration innovation growth I think I have the best job in the world. Seventy-one percent of the planet is covered by water, we've explored less than five percent of the ocean, and there are so many fabulous discoveries that have yet to be made. Edith Widder ocean jobs thinking The difference between a fairy tale and a sea tale? A fairy tale starts with "Once upon a time". A sea tale starts with " This ain't no $hit"! Edith Widder differences once-upon-a-time sea It's a little-appreciated fact that most of the animals in our ocean make light. Edith Widder ocean light animal In the ocean, [bioluminescence] is the rule rather than the exception. Edith Widder motivation ocean inspiration The teeth on [the viperfish] are so long that if they closed inside the mouth of the fish, it would actually impale its own brain. Edith Widder teeth brain long Our biggest challenges for the ocean and for the planet are problems of perception. People need to understand that species extinctions, habitat destruction, ocean acidification, and pollution are all chipping away at the resilience of the thin layer of life that sustains us on Spaceship Earth. Edith Widder ocean challenges people Our problems are solvable if they are clearly defined. To do so, we need to monitor our planetary life support systems the way doctors monitor a patient's vital signs and then use that information to protect ecosystem services as though our lives depend on it, because they do. Edith Widder support-systems doctors ecosystems Since my first dive in a deep-diving submersible, when I went down and turned out the lights and saw the fireworks displays, I've been a bioluminescence junky. But I would come back from those dives and try to share the experience with words, and they were totally inadequate to the task. I needed some way to share the experience directly. Edith Widder words lights experience way We've only explored about 5% of our ocean. There are great discoveries yet to be made down there - fantastic creatures representing millions of years of evolution and possibly bioactive compounds that could benefit us in ways we can't even imagine. Edith Widder down great ocean evolution Exploring is an innate part of being human. We're all explorers when we're born. Unfortunately, it seems to get drummed out of many of us as we get older, but it's there, I think, in all of us. And for me that moment of discovery is just so thrilling, on any level, that I think anybody that's experienced it is pretty quickly addicted to it. Edith Widder think me moment born I just was mesmerized by all of this life everywhere I looked. And so I wanted to be a marine biologist. Edith Widder everywhere just mesmerized life The one thing I've learned exploring the deep is that you just can't even begin to imagine some of the bizarre creatures that are down there. Edith Widder deep down some you Giant squid aren't rare. Based on the number of beaks that have been found in the stomachs of sperm whales, it's thought that there are actually millions of them in the ocean, and yet, we haven't seen them. Edith Widder rare seen thought ocean Finding animals that make light in the ocean is easy. Just drag a net through the water anywhere in the upper 3000 feet, and as many as 80-90% of the animals you catch can make light. The biomimetic lure that I developed imitates one of these - a common deep sea jellyfish called Atolla. Edith Widder you light sea water For my Ph.D. thesis, I was measuring the electrical activity that triggers light emission from a bioluminescent dinoflagellate. As I was nearing the completion of my degree, my major professor wrote a grant for an instrument for measuring the color of very dim light flashes from bioluminescent animals. Edith Widder animals electrical color light During my first open ocean dive, I went down to 800 feet and turned out the lights. I knew I would see bioluminescence, but I was totally unprepared for how much. It was incredible! There were explosions of light everywhere, like being in the middle of a silent fireworks display. Edith Widder lights ocean light feet I had wanted to place the Eye-in-the-Sea at an oasis on the bottom of the ocean, in some site rich with life that was likely to be patrolled by large predators. The first time I got to test the camera at such a place was in 2004, in the north end of the Gulf of Mexico, at an amazing location called the brine pool. Edith Widder rich ocean time life It's a little-appreciated fact that most of the animals in our ocean make light. I've spent most of my career studying this phenomenon called bioluminescence. I study it because I think understanding it is critical to understanding life in the ocean where most bioluminescence occurs. Edith Widder think ocean light life
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