MIc'd Up | Part 1: A Conversation with Robert Ballard

Historical Context & Policy Decisions

• In 1803, President Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the U.S. size despite Congressional opposition, followed by the Lewis and Clark expedition to map the territory.
• In 1983, President Reagan signed the Law of the Sea Convention, effectively doubling America's ocean jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles without commissioning a comparable modern exploration expedition.
• It took 18 years after 1983 for both the Clinton and Bush administrations to conduct major studies that led to the creation of the Office of Ocean Exploration in 2009.
• The Office of Ocean Exploration launched with an initial federal operating budget of $4 million in FY 2009.

Ocean Scale & Geological Facts

• Mount Everest would fit atop the underwater portion of Mauna Loa, which is the largest mountain on Earth.
• The Pacific Ocean crust is composed of heavy basalt and gabbro, making the Pacific the deepest ocean and covering approximately one-third of Earth's surface.
• The Mid-Ocean Ridge spans 70,000 kilometers, a process that created 72% of Earth's surface, and is the primary location for black smokers (hydrothermal vents).
• Black smokers found along the Mid-Ocean Ridge contain commercial-grade ore including copper, lead, silver, zinc, and gold.
• Approximately 90% of the world's rare earth elements are currently controlled by China; these are critical for consumer electronics and electric vehicles.
• Biodiversity in the ocean is centered in the Western Pacific due to heat, contrasting with the Atlantic, which has less complex terrain compared to the deep trenches of the Pacific.

Resource Utilization & Mining

• Ballard supports deep-sea mining of mineral deposits but advocates for a regulated approach to distinguish between areas suitable for extraction and those requiring protection.
• Ballard proposes the creation of national marine sanctuaries to protect species, similar to how mangroves provide nurseries for fish that commercial fishermen later harvest.
• Currently, 90% of large fish populations in U.S. waters have been depleted due to overfishing in the shallow "Cousteau layer."
• Ballard argues humanity remains in an "ocean hunter-gatherer" phase, catching apex predators, and must transition to aquaculture (fishing farming) to increase productivity sustainably.
• The "Catalina Sea Farm" off California is a federal aquaculture program primarily focused on mollusk farming, such as mussels.
• A pilot program off Kona successfully converted the herbivorous Kimpachi (hamachi) into a soybean-fed fish, enabling scalable farming in nutrient-poor, warm waters.

Exploration Strategy & Technology

• Ballard's mission aboard the Nautilus and its ROVs is to go "where no one has gone before on planet Earth," emphasizing discovery over pre-defined grant parameters.
• The "Black Smoker" discovery, which revealed the origin of life and guides NASA's interest in Europa and Enceladus, was not part of the original National Science Foundation grant but was pursued by Ballard.
• Ballard utilizes a "Command Center" with 10 gigabits of bandwidth (Internet 2/Level 3) to connect remote scientists to the ship in real-time to make immediate discovery decisions.
• Ballard compares the cost of mapping the unmapped Earth ($4 billion) to the cost of mapping Mars, noting the former offers a higher return on investment for planetary science.
• Ballard asserts that 95% of the human race lives on less than 5% of Earth, while 95% of the planet's living space is in international waters and largely unexplored.

Education & Diversity Initiatives

• Ballard has mandated that the Ocean Exploration Trust's Corps of Discovery will be 55% women, specifically in positions of leadership and authority.
• The program targets middle school students (starting at age 15), viewing this age group as critical for forming lifelong passions before puberty.
• A new initiative plans to integrate live satellite feeds into a classroom command center to allow students to participate in real-time deep-sea exploration.
• In the previous year, the program answered 60,000 questions from children; the schedule is expanding from four to six months, potentially eight months pending budget approval.
• Ballard emphasizes the lack of oceanography in general education curricula, noting that only a small fraction of students have taken such classes.

Budgetary Disparities

• NASA's FY 2016 budget was significantly higher than NOAA's budget, with Ballard citing a funding gap of roughly 1,000-to-1 between space exploration and ocean exploration.
• Ballard advocates for parity in funding, stating he would like to see the same $18 billion allocated to ocean exploration as NASA receives.
• The Office of Ocean Exploration relies heavily on private partnerships (e.g., National Geographic) and federal funding that Ballard notes is insufficient to meet national needs.

Forward-Looking Statements & Future Vision

• Ballard projects a future where humanity shifts from hunting-gathering in the ocean to "herding" and farming, vastly increasing food productivity.
• He predicts that humans will not live inside the ocean floor but will develop large-scale colonies and activities "out on the ocean" surface.
• Ballard anticipates that future exploration will statistically uncover 97% of the deep sea that remains unknown, expecting discoveries that will "blow away" current plans.
• The Ocean Exploration Trust plans to launch a major live engagement on May 12 from the Nautilus to reach millions of students.
• Ballard warns that without significant investment in education and exploration, the nation risks losing the "battle" for the future of ocean stewardship.