Laura Hepburn: What does the ocean mean to me?

“With its untold depths, couldn’t the sea keep alive such huge specimens of life from another age, this sea that never changes while the land masses undergo almost continuous alteration? Couldn’t the heart of the ocean hide the last–remaining varieties of these titanic species, for whom years are centuries and centuries millennia?” From ‘20,000 leagues under the sea’ by Jules Verne.

For me, the ocean has always meant adventure and exploration. From being engrossed in the adventures of Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo as a child, to watching live footage of previously undiscovered deep-sea vents during my PhD, the ocean has always been exciting. In part this excitement comes from what is hidden beneath the waves; the vast expanse of the ocean has enticed human curiosity for centuries and it seems that the more we learn, the more questions we have. I doubt that we will ever have all of the answers – in all our years of oceanic exploration we have barely grazed the surface, let alone delved into the “heart of the ocean”. Hopefully, all of the oceanographic questions that you have over the next 6 weeks will be answered by myself and the other MOOC mentors! So get in touch, we would love to hear about what the ocean means to each of you.