The Deep Reef and Beyond: An Overview of the Development of Tourist Submarine Industry

Abstract

If intelligent life in some far-off galaxy were to look through space at our solar system, and specifically at the third planet from the sun, the single, most discernible feature of Earth would be the shimmering sapphire blue water that covers a full 70.8 % of our planet. And should any aliens from outer space actually succeed in visiting our planet, their initial mission would probably be to conduct a thorough exploration of the oceans and their relationship to the geosphere, a task that mankind only began in the 19th century and now, in the last quarter of the 20th century, is beginning to address with some sort of concerted global effort (Hull 1964, 4). More recently, opportunities to explore the last frontier of Planet Earth have been increased with developments, not in the scientific or commercial offshore industries, but rather in the tourism industry.