Exploiting the Sea

Man will move onto and into the sea, occupying it and exploiting it as an integral part of his use of this planet for recreation, minerals, food, waste disposal, military and transportation operations, and as populations grow, for actual living space.

More than 2-3^rd of the planets surface is covered with ocean and of his submerged terrain a base 5% is well mapped. However, this underwater land is known to be rich with oil, gas, coal, diamonds, sulphur, cobalt, uranium, tin, phosphates and other minerals.

Today in the US alone more than 600 companies including such giants as standard oil and union carbide, are readying themselves for a monumental competitive struggle under the seas. The Japanese already extract 10000000 tons of coal each year from underwater mines; tin is already being ocean-mined by Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.