(discussion thread for ideas sparking)

71% of the planet is ocean, think about that for a moment:

• We fight over resources, yet this only accounts for 19% of the planet (10% being inaccessible land)

• We know more about the surface of Mars than our seas

• At best we have mapped around 10% of seabeds, but at a resolution so big it couldn't spot a 747.

• We spend billions in space exploration, but almost zero exploring our oceans

As a society we have a massive blind spot where it comes to our oceans. It really is the undiscovered continent.

The engineering needed is, of course, difficult. But, it's no more difficult than space exploration. The scope of this opportunity is enormous, if we can break through the blind spot!

This is actually one of my favourite topics!!

Your second point fascinates me! We can send rockets into space, land them back on Earth and even put people on the Moon, yet we've barely explored our own oceans!

Just think about that for a second. The deepest parts of the ocean reach pressures of over 1,000 times the atmospheric pressure we experience at sea level. It's one of the most hostile environments on Earth!

Space gets all the attention, but breakthroughs in ocean exploration could transform industries like energy, shipping, mining, environmental science and even medicine. It feels like one of the last frontiers that's still hiding in plain sight! Who knows what's down there!

I've worked in both the space industry and also the subsea industry (in engineering). Always amazed me at how many stupid space ideas could get funding, yet how many good subsea ideas couldn't.

The engineering is difficult, the environment is hostile. But, technology is now at a point where subsea exploration is now truly possible without risking human life.

I walked the startup route a couple of years back. Institutional applications failed because ocean funds are very tied into the academic world. Struggled with the VC route because ultimately it takes substantial funding to just get to prototype (not impossible, just horrible terms without hardware). Defence funding was possible, but not exactly benefitting mankind here.

Think this is the key difference: people will take a risky punt on space applications, but apply standard terms to ocean tech?