"Only 150 years ago, life in the deep oceans was virtually unknown. Reaching these depths was a goal of early explorers and naturalists, such as those of the Challenger Expedition (1872–76). They were rewarded with astonishing discoveries of a wealth of diverse life in the deep sea. Since these early ventures, expeditions to study this realm have increased in regularity and scope, continuing …
Famous lines from the diary of explorer Robert F. Scott, 17 January, 1912: “Great God! This is an awful place, and terrible enough for us to have labored to it without the reward of priority. Now for the run home, and a desperate struggle.” Scott and his companions would starve, freeze, and die ten weeks later in an Antarctic blizzard, disheartened by the knowledge that Roald Amundsen had …