Is The Government Hiding The TRUTH About The Ocean? | Unveiled - video Dailymotion

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00:00 There aren't many places on Earth that are still truly unexplored.

00:04 Humankind has ventured into even the most dense and isolated realms of the rainforest.

00:08 We've traipsed across miles of empty desert.

00:10 We've reached the north and south poles.

00:13 And we've sailed to countless desert islands.

00:16 And yet there is one place that's still almost totally shrouded in darkness and mystery…

00:21 the ocean.

00:23 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question; is the government

00:27 hiding the truth about the ocean?

00:31 Do you need the big questions answered?

00:33 Are you constantly curious?

00:34 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?

00:37 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!

00:40 The ocean covers 71% of the surface of the Earth.

00:43 It has an average depth of 12,100 feet.

00:46 It holds 97% of the water on our planet, and an estimated 94% of the wildlife.

00:52 And yet 80% of it at least is still unexplored.

00:56 Despite all of the other advances we've made in science and knowledge, that figure

01:00 is pretty startling.

01:01 So, why have we seemingly left the ocean alone?

01:04 On the face of it, there are a few reasons.

01:06 But most notably, there's the money and the danger.

01:10 Ocean research simply isn't as well-funded as many other scientific fields are, and certainly

01:15 not as well-packed as space travel is.

01:17 And without any especially notable spikes in the cash that gets spent, it's proven

01:21 slow-going over the years to build a foundation for innovation.

01:24 Missions into the ocean are so often viewed as isolated attempts, or even as quirky, foolhardy

01:30 endeavours.

01:31 And it's rare that any one mission garners significant coverage.

01:34 In history, since World War Two, we have the life and times of Jacques Cousteau, a handful

01:39 of mostly infamous US Navy schemes such as SeaLab, some even shadier experiments carried

01:45 out in the Soviet Union, and that's about it.

01:48 And while there is a growing private sector, it's almost always the case that the only

01:52 dives we hear about are the disastrous ones resulting in loss of life - such as the Ocean

01:58 Gate Titan submersible implosion in June 2023.

02:01 Which takes us to the danger.

02:04 And the ocean is clearly full of it.

02:06 At the very deepest part, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, you need to withstand

02:11 more than one thousand times the pressure at sea level.

02:13 The water is literally denser down there, and if you were to be piloting a sub, you'd

02:18 be doing so in pitch-black darkness.

02:20 In many ways, it might even be said that the ocean floor is a more dangerous environment

02:25 than outer space is.

02:27 Outside of a vessel, world-record divers have reached depths of just more than one thousand

02:31 feet - or less than ten percent of the average depth of the sea as a whole.

02:36 In contrast, today's astronauts can perform multiple spacewalks per mission, surviving

02:41 outside of their vessel with far fewer problems.

02:44 Perhaps part of the challenge is that, in some senses, space doesn't really change

02:48 once you get beyond Earth's atmosphere and out into it.

02:51 The ocean gets worse and worse the further down you go.

02:55 And yet, according to reports, it is or should be possible to overcome the hurdles to regularly

03:01 reach the sea floor… since the late 2010s, various environmental groups, including Greenpeace,

03:07 have led campaigns against deep-sea mining.

03:10 Considered a growing strategy in ocean mining, companies and some governments are said to

03:14 be planning to commit to it in a big way in the future.

03:18 Because of the resources that it could provide.

03:20 For example, deep-sea mining has been touted as a potential method of harvesting the minerals

03:24 and metals needed to make the batteries in electric vehicles.

03:28 New sources of things like lithium, cobalt, aluminum, nickel and zinc could all be found

03:33 in this way… but it comes at a potentially huge environmental cost.

03:38 Deep-sea mining would instantly disrupt the local ecosystems, while reported plumes of

03:43 pollution generated by the process could spread and linger for tens or even hundreds of miles

03:49 around.

03:50 The incongruous noise and light of the mining could drive animals away, or else lure them

03:55 to danger… while the fundamental act of stripping the ocean of its resources could,

04:00 according to campaigners, trigger food chain collapse.

04:03 The debate over deep-sea mining is sure to rumble for years to come.

04:08 But take away the questionable environmental ethics of it all, and it's a debate that

04:11 does at least prove one thing; exploring the ocean is apparently possible.

04:16 No matter that around 80% of it is currently unexplored, the sad truth is that if there's

04:21 money to be made, irrespective of the consequences, then humankind will suddenly find a way.

04:27 Deep-sea mining would involve the use of remote robotics and artificial intelligence in various

04:32 guises.

04:33 Much as we send rovers to the surface of other planets, rather than people, most deep-sea

04:38 mining strategies involve employing machines on the seafloor to dig and siphon what the

04:42 controlling companies need.

04:44 It's cutting-edge innovation; it's just a shame that it's only now coming into play

04:49 for a practice that could spark ecological ruin.

04:51 So, why not more widely employ aspects of that technology, but simply to investigate

04:57 the ocean rather than to ransack it?

05:00 While the data does vary, in general within the last decade we've gone from less than

05:04 ten percent of the ocean floor being mapped to about twenty-five percent.

05:08 A cynical view might be that that sudden acceleration is again all to do with the modern realisation

05:14 that money can be made from the seafloor.

05:16 But nevertheless, the increase in mapping has improved our knowledge of what's down

05:21 there, even if the ocean is still thought to be home to more undiscovered species than

05:26 anywhere else on Earth.

05:27 How different would the world be, though, if we did send the sort of rovers that do

05:31 already exist, but not to relentlessly mine?

05:35 How much could we have already learned if world governments had backed this kind of

05:38 tech above, say, space travel?

05:41 If the recent push for deep-sea mining is anything to go by, it would appear that companies

05:45 and the authorities are aware that ocean exploration can be done.

05:49 It's just that they haven't been driven to do it until the idea of mining for minerals

05:54 was put on the table.

05:56 In recent times, for example, the British government has been criticised by groups like

06:00 Greenpeace for its apparent reluctance to ban deep-sea mining.

06:04 Many nations, including France and Germany, have supported calls for a ban or a pause,

06:09 but not the UK.

06:11 Or the majority of others.

06:12 In 2023, the International Seabed Authority reinstated a moratorium against deep-sea mining,

06:19 although it's set to be debated again and again by the ISA on an annual basis.

06:24 Meanwhile, and while it's not directly linked, we can see just how undervalued the ocean

06:29 has historically been when we compare the budget of NOAA - America's National Oceanic

06:34 and Atmospheric Administration - with that of NASA.

06:37 In 2023, NOAA received just less than seven billion dollars.

06:41 For NASA, it was just more than twenty-five billion dollars.

06:44 If roles were reversed, could we already have seen major ocean breakthroughs to rival the

06:50 moon landing?

06:51 Or the James Webb Space Telescope?

06:53 Perhaps.

06:54 But in the here and now, we're still just trying to find our way in the literal abyss.

06:59 What do you think should happen next?

07:01 How should we view and treat the ocean in the future?

07:04 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

07:06 For now, it would appear that we are at something of a fork in the road when it comes to ocean

07:10 exploration.

07:11 The technology is there, as demonstrated by the various proposals for deep-sea mining…

07:16 but is the backing there unless there's an immediate return?

07:19 Would world governments be interested if tackling the ocean didn't top their lithium reserves,

07:24 or afford them an edge in general in the race for future resources?

07:28 If missions to explore were supported, if the money that is being considered for mining

07:33 was instead channelled into less environmentally destructive plans, then we might very quickly

07:37 learn so much more about the sea.

07:40 There are surely new species ready to be seen, perhaps massive, deep-water creatures that

07:45 we've never before set eyes upon.

07:47 Whole chapters of new research just waiting to be made.

07:51 But that's why the government might be hiding the truth about the ocean.

07:55 What do you think?

07:56 Is there anything we missed?

07:57 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you

08:01 subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

Is The Government Hiding The TRUTH About The Ocean? | Unveiled

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