If we are to be good stewards of the ocean, we need to understand what lives there and how the animals interact with each other and with their environment, which means we need to be constantly seeking new and improved methods for exploration and observation. Edith Widder Read Quote
There’s a lot of animals in the open ocean – most of them that make light. And we have a pretty good idea, for most of them, why. They use it for finding food, for attracting mates, for defending against predators. But when you get down to the bottom of the ocean, that’s where things get really strange. Edith Widder Read Quote
In 2010, there was a TED event called Mission Blue held aboard the Lindblad Explorer in the Galapagos as part of the fulfillment of Sylvia Earle’s TED wish. I spoke about a new way of exploring the ocean, one that focuses on attracting animals instead of scaring them away. Edith Widder Read Quote
We’ve only explored about five percent of our ocean. There are great discoveries yet to be made down there, fantastic creatures representing millions of years of evolution and possibly bioactive compounds that could benefit us in ways that we can’t even yet imagine. Edith Widder Read Quote
We need a NASA-like organization for ocean exploration, because we need to be exploring and protecting our life support systems here on Earth. Edith Widder Read Quote
The one thing I’ve learned exploring the deep is that you just can’t even begin to imagine some of the bizarre creatures that are down there. Edith Widder Read Quote
Giant squid aren’t rare. Based on the number of beaks that have been found in the stomachs of sperm whales, it’s thought that there are actually millions of them in the ocean, and yet, we haven’t seen them. Edith Widder Read Quote
If I go out in the open ocean environment, virtually anywhere in the world, and I drag a net from 3,000 feet to the surface, most of the animals – in fact, in many places, 80 to 90 percent of the animals that I bring up in that net – make light. This makes for some pretty spectacular light shows. Edith Widder Read Quote
The primary way that we know about what lives in the ocean is we go out and drag nets behind ships. And I defy you to name any other branch of science that still depends on hundreds-of-year-old technology. The other primary way is we go down with submersibles and remote- operated vehicles. I’ve made hundreds of dives in submersibles. Edith Widder Read Quote
When caught in the clutches of a predator, the jelly produces a light display that is a pinwheel of light that is basically a call for help. It serves to attract the attention of a larger predator that may attack their attacker, thereby affording them an opportunity for escape. Edith Widder Read Quote
