4SEAS

What is marine science? Shall we better call it "Marine sciences"? Do "seas" and "science" go well toghether?

These key-questions are at the basis of 4SEAS, and we also asked you to express your point of view when answering our questionnaires at the beginning of the project. According to our audience response, science and seas make sense together for the large majority of responders (overall, around 75-80% of responders according to age).

So, what do marine scientists do?

Marine science is as vast and complex as the sea itslef. If we include technical aspects as well, it deals with anything ranging from marine biology and geology, to microbiology, chemistry, physics, engineering, modeling and so on. While some scientific areas are clearly marine-oriented (like oceanography), others may be just surprisingly related to seas. 

Would you say that medicine, and pharmacology, are strongly being developed by marine scientists as well? That´s true! Beyond hyperbaric medicine (which is gaining more and more attention as the number of divers increases worldwide), the pharma industry is turning to seas in its quest for novel drugs and biochemicals. Sponges appear as the most promising sources of novel drug leads and some compounds are already on the market. In this way, any field of science in called to cooperate with the others. 

Indeed, you need technical knowledge to reach the sea floor, and to set up sustainable production methods that preserve the interesting natural resources (so, in-situ and ex-situ cultivation is being developed). You need deep knwoledge of species identification methodologies, and about organisms biology and ecology. You often need to deal with associated microorganisms (that might indeed be the true producers of the compound). And you need to be able to select, isolate, identify and reproduce the compound, of course. Finally, you get into testing.... And it may take upt to 10 years (and quite a large bulk of money...) to get here....

This is called Blue Biotechnology, and the European Community is heavily investing in it. Blue Biotechnology is a clear example of the need to address seas in a integrated way, putting together any field of expertise and any stakeholder as recently prompted by the new European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research (COM(2008)534) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).

Other marine sciences examples that enter our lives every day relate to fisheries management, aquaculture, integrated management of the coastal zone, marine spatial planning, remediation interventions, telecommunications, shipping, archaeology... and many more!!!

If you are surprised, check what the other people think of it by reading about the outcomes of our surveys! And watch the movies about marine sciences and expeditions, produced by marine biologists from Sevastopol:  "Sevastopol Biological Station, 1871-1941", “Marine Research SBS_IBSS: History and Personalities” and "Long Way of Marine Expeditions".