Chapter 3 : Safeguarding Ocean

Introduction

• The majority of our current and future energy needs are derived from the oceans.
• Around 96.5 percent of the water on Earth is contained in the seas, which cover about two-thirds of the planet's surface.
• Millions of cells, the fundamental biological unit of both plants and humans, contain roughly 70% water in their protoplasm.

Different Zones In The Ocean

• The sunshine or Epipelagic Zone, which is 200 metres below the ocean's surface, is permeable to sunlight.
• The area is known as the twilight zone, midwater zone, or Mesopelagic Zone because there is a feeble sunlight that permeates it between 200 and 1000 metres deep. Here, darkness rules, and the organisms use bioluminescence, which is akin to the fireflies that can be found on land, to dispel it.
• The midnight or Bathypelagic Zone, which is the depth between 1000 and 4000 metres below the midwater zone, is the bottom depth of the ocean. Bioluminescence, which is present here, illuminates the creatures. In this area, there is a lot of water pressure. However, despite these difficulties, a great number of species can be found here.
• The portion of the sea between 4000 and 6000 metres deep is known as the "abyssal zone" or "ocean womb." The temperature is quite low, and it is pitch black here (almost equal to the freezing point). Only a few number of animals, usually invertebrates like squids, can be found at this depth.

Organism in Mariana Trench

• Organisms The Mariana Trench in Japan contains the deepest point in the world, which is situated at a depth of almost 11,000 metres below sea level. Here, the water is always above the freezing point, and the pressure is unimaginable.
• Snailfish, amphipods, and telescope octopus are just a few of the invertebrates that live here despite the hard and unfavourable environment.

RV Sindhu Sadhana Scientific Research:

• by the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography, an organisation that specialised in studying the Indian Ocean.
• To comprehend the process taking place at the molecular level, the expedition team studied the proteins and DNA found in marine animals.
• Proteins serve as catalysts and indicators in biological events that take place in organisms that can endure various ocean environments.
• Proteomics refers to the area of biology that focuses on protein research.
• Understanding the effects of stress, pollution, and climate change on organisms is made easier by this.
• The effects of trace metals on marine creatures, such as manganese, cobalt, iron, and nickel, were also investigated during expeditions.

Deep Ocean Mission:

• To investigate the understudied marine variety in our nation, the Deep Ocean Mission was established.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences oversees this initiative. (MoES).
• The government hopes to perform undersea exploration with this expedition along the same lines as ISRO does for space.
• The Samudrayaan Mission
• The mission, which intends to send people into the deep sea aboard a submersible vehicle for deep-ocean exploration and mining of rare minerals, is India's first ever unique manned ocean mission.
• For deep underwater studies, it will send three people in the MATSYA 6000 manned submersible to a depth of 6000 metres in the water.
• A Deep Ocean Mission component, it.
• With the completion of this Mission, India joined an exclusive group of countries that include the US, Russia, France, Japan, and China that possess specialised equipment and vehicles for subsea operations.

Conclusion:

• Dead zones in the oceans are being caused by factors such as rising human population, tourism, industrial chemical and fertiliser discharges into the water, and other physical interventions in coastal areas. In order to preserve the oceans and their ecosystems, these practises must be stopped because in the future, the oceans will be the main stewards of human existence.