The deep sea remains largely unexplored, with human knowledge limited to less than 0.001% of the seafloor. Researchers have mapped the deep ocean mainly close to certain nations, revealing significant gaps in exploration. Katy Croff Bell led a study compiling data from over 43,000 deep-sea exploration attempts since 1958, emphasizing the challenges of visualizing underwater regions beyond 200 meters due to darkness and pressure. The findings highlight the limited understanding of marine biodiversity and ecosystems in these cold, dark waters.
The fact of the matter is, when you're down there with a remotely operated vehicle or other sort of deep-submergence vehicle, you can only see a very tiny bit of the deep sea floor at any one time.
I started trying to find that statistic. She saw estimates ranging from less than one percent to as much as ten percent.
They found records of more than 43,000 trips down, starting in 1958, with everything from robotic vehicles to human-driven subs to simple landers that didn't move around.
As a result, scientists really haven't seen a very representative slice of the deep sea.
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