The U.S. academic research fleet is an essential national resource, and it is likely that scientific demands on the fleet will increase. Oceanographers are embracing a host of remote technologies that can facilitate the collection of data, but will continue to require capable, adaptable research vessels for access to the sea for the foreseeable future. Maintaining U.S. leadership in ocean research will require investing in larger and more capable general purpose Global and Regional class ships; involving the scientific community in all phases of ship design and acquisition; and improving coordination between agencies that operate research fleets.

From a study of knowledge of the sea among indigenous cultures in the South Seas to inquiries into the subject of sea monsters, from studies of Pacific currents to descriptions of ocean-going research vessels, the sixty-three essays presented here reflect the scientific complexity and richness of social relationships that characterize ocean-ographic history. Based on papers presented at the Fifth International Congress on the History of Oceanography held at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (the first ICHO meeting following the cessation of the Cold War), the volume features an unusual breadth of contributions. Oceanography itself involves the full spectrum of physical, biological, and earth sciences in their formal, empirical, and applied manifestations. The contributors to Oceanographic History: The Pacific and Beyond undertake the interdisciplinary task of telling the story of oceanography’s past, drawing on diverse methodologies. Their essays explore the concepts, techniques, and technologies of oceanography, as well as the social, economic, and institutional determinants of oceanographic history. Although focused on the Pacific, the geographic range of subjects is global and includes Micronesia, East Africa, and Antarctica; the bathymetric range comprises inshore fisheries, coral reefs, and the "azoic zone." The seventy-one contributors represent every continent of the globe except Antarctica, bringing together material on the history of oceanography never before published.

The earth where we live is the only planet of our solar system that holds a mass of water we know as the ocean, covering 70.8% of the earth's surface with a mean depth of 3,800 m. When using the term ocean, we mean not only the water and what it contains, but also the bottom that supports the water mass above and the atmosphere on the sea surface. Modern oceanography thus deals with the water, the bottom of the ocean, and the air thereon. In addition, varied interactions take place between the ocean and the land so that such interface areas are also extended domains of oceanography. In ancient times our ancestors took an interest in nearshore seas, making them an object of constant study. Deep seas, on the other hand, largely remained an area beyond their reach. Modern academic research on deep seas is said to have been started by the first round-the-world voyage of Her Majesty's R/V Challenger I from 1872 to 1876. It has been only 120 years since the British ship leftPortsmouth on this voyage, so oceanography can thus be considered still a young science on its way to full maturity.

A coastal sea area usually indicates a sea area between a continental shelf break with a water depth of about 200 m and the land shore. About 70% of global fish resources spend part of their life cycle in the coastal seas, which accounts for 90% of marine biomass yield. Freshwater and nutrients from the land have a great influence on the coastal seas, especially since more than half the human population lives within 100 km of a coast. Chemical reactions occur there rapidly between substances from the land as they encounter substances from the ocean. In terms of physics, a coastal sea acts as a boundary layer and kinetic energy is actively exchanged there. But if coastal oceanography were to be summed up in a single sentence, it would be `the study that quantitatively makes clear the material transport in the coastal sea area'. Because the physical, chemical and biological processes relate to the material transport in the sea, it can be said the coastal oceanography is a genuinely interdisciplinary study. This book clarifies the quantitative material transport processes in the coastal sea area, mainly from a physical viewpoint.