This document provides a brief history of notable figures and expeditions that advanced ocean exploration from the 1500s to present day. It describes Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan's leadership of the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe in the 1500s. In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin mapped the Gulf Stream current. Charles Darwin in the early 1800s described how coral reefs form and introduced the theory of natural selection. The multi-year Challenger Expedition in the late 1800s conducted the first truly oceanographic research cruise. More recent pioneers include Jacques Cousteau who developed modern SCUBA gear and Sylvia Earle who is a renowned marine biologist and conservationist.
2. Ferdinand Magellan ( 1500’s)
• Captained 1st
Oceanic voyage to
sail from Atlantic to
Pacific
• Credited with 1st
circumnavigation of
the earth (died on
before completing,
but crew finished
journey)
4. Ben Franklin (1700’s)
• Mapped out the
Gulf Stream
Current, the
fastest, most
powerful current
on earth!
5. Charles Darwin (early 1800’s)
• Described how coral
reefs form
• http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Ch
• Described Natural
Selection
6. Challenger Expedition (late 1800’s)
• 3 year study
• 1st
truly
oceanographic
research cruise
• “Principal of
Constant
Proportions”
one of many
discoveries
7. Alfred Wegener (early 1900’s)
• Meteorologist
• Devised concept of
Continental Drift
which took many
years for people to
accept. Once
confirmed, became
the Plate Tectonics
we know today.
8. Jacques Cousteau
(1910 – 1997)
• French Naval Officer, film
maker, conservationist,
inventor
• Credited with modern day
SCUBA
“Self Contained Underwater
Breathing Apparatus”
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdSipdXBStA
9. Eugenie Clark (1922 – 2015)
• Known as “The Shark Lady”
• One of the most famous
American Ichthyologists
• Pioneer in SCUBA diving for
research
• Marine Conservationist
10. Trieste (1960)
• 2 Man Bathyscaphe
(submersible)
• Went to 36,000 ft
into Challenger
Deep (in Mariana
Trench)
• Piloted by Piccard &
Walsh
11. The Alvin (1964 – Present)
• World’s 1st
Deep –
Sea Submersible
• > 4,000 dives,
including discovering
Hydrothermal Vents
• Cindy Lee VanDover
only woman licensed
to pilot the Alvin
12. Sylvia Earle (1935 – Present)
• Known as “Her Deepness”
• American Marine Biologist,
Marine Explorer &
Conservationist
• Named as first “Hero of the
Planet”
• Mission Blue co-creator,
establishing Marine Protected
Areas around the world
