Oceanography is a very dangerous career but is very rewarding to mankind and to our knowledge of the earth. The Word oceanographer is defined as “the study of the chemistry and physics of the Ocean. The study of the oceans has been around for a long time but only started formally in the last few hundred years. Oceanography is a new science and has many openings and new opportunities all the time.

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Less than 130 years ago the oceans finally started to be explored by the Americans, British, and other European nations (Dive). Jacques-Yves Cousteau helped revolutionize the field of oceanography by co-inventing the aqua-lung which we now call S.C.U.B.A. By inventing the scuba many new fields were opened up in the field of oceanography. Through scuba we are able to stay under water for extended periods of time and better understand the different kinds of creatures that there are underwater. We can study how the earth has changed and learn more about our earth. After scuba came World War One. The study of the ocean took off during this time when America tried to gain an advantage over other countries in submarine warfare by better understanding the environment that they were in.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France in June of 1910. He first joined the French Navy and did his first test there. He helped invent the first swim goggles and co invented the first scuba gear. In his books he helped accurately predict facts about sea creatures that we now know as facts about them today (Jacques). He helped to find what we now call oceanography, today. Without Jacques Cousteau we would not have oceanography as we know it.

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By the same token, there are many different jobs that can all be found in the field of oceanography. There are four different types of oceanographers biological, chemical, geological and physical. Biological oceanographers study life and creatures of the ocean. Chemical oceanographers study the contents of ocean water and search the ocean floor for minerals (Hall). Chemists also help to find how the ocean was formed through chemical tests (Corporate). Geological oceanographers help study how the earth has changed over thousands of years studies of how the earth will continue to changes and predictions can be made by studying the sea floor (Hall). The last kind of oceanographer is a physical oceanographer. Physical oceanographers study the flow of the ocean and the daily to yearly processes that we may not yet be aware of.

The study of creatures in the ocean is called Biological oceanography. In biological oceanography one studies the processes of reproduction of sea creatures or how organisms in an area interact. Biological oceanographers help to discover different breeds of creatures or new creature’s altogether. The science fields of Marine Biology and Biological oceanography do overlap in the fact that in both fields study creatures , but marine biologists study one creature rather than multiple creatures and how they interact (Dive).

A second type of oceanography is chemical oceanography. Chemical oceanographer’s main focus is on runoff of sewage on the local and worldwide scale. According to Lisa Yon a Professor of Oceanography and Earth Science at Palomar College, responded “This is still a big field…a marine chemist might be responsible for testing the safety of our coastal waters (related to pollution control)” when asked “what type of work do chemical oceanographers do?” The biggest part of chemical oceanography is helping to find how the oceans effect global warming, which is still to be determined. Chemical oceanography can be divided into three parts, still Marine chemistry, marine biochemistry, and, lastly, Marine geochemistry. 

When studying chemical oceanography the scientist gets to examine the chemical processes that go on in everyday life under the sea. Most oceanographers spend half of their work hours out at sea getting results from experiments (Corporate). They help to study the composition of seawater to find how it has changed over a period of time. Clues to the past can be found in seawater and we can see the effects of pollution on the sea over time (Corporate). Most scientists would say that their favorite part of working is going out and gathering data at sea. When gathering data at sea a scientist could spend up to many weeks at sea trying to find results (Corporate).

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Another type of oceanography is physical oceanography. Physical oceanography crosses over into chemical oceanography in that the both study some of the composition in the ocean. Physical oceanographers have helped to discover things like The Coriolis Effect which is why fluid flows to the right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere.

The last type of oceanography is geological oceanography. Geological oceanographers study the ocean floor. Geological oceanographers help to find valuable resources and minerals on or below the ocean floor. “Geological oceanography is one of the broadest fields in the earth science” (Ross). Geological Oceanographers can study anything from underwater volcanoes to the abyss to seamounts. Through study of the deep sea people can see how the earth has changed and will continue to change.

Most time is spent at sea doing any type of Oceanography. Between diving, fishing for a certain creature to tag and release or any other type of research most time is spent on the water. Through doing all this we can help our environment be seeing changes that could be taking place for the good and the bad. We can see why things happen the way they do and find the reason why they happen (Fergusons). Through oceanography we can see where we may be going as a planet because of changes in our world that are only evident through the ocean. Lastly, marine chemists help study sea life and try to create medicine based on traits of animals (corporate).

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The hardest part about becoming an oceanographer is getting you credits so that someone could apply to be one. A good background in high school math and science in mandatory (Fergusons). It is necessary that you get at least a bachelors degree in ocean sciences before anyone can get a job anywhere in oceanography from an accredited college or university (Fergusons). After college is over anyone will need six months of supervised training and at least three hundreds hours training on ocean vessels to find out the basics of different types of ships (marine). The ability to enter confined spaces is one of the biggest parts of this job either for vessel repair or helping to find materials and data for research. (marine). After being at sea finding data most marine chemist spend the other half of their work time working in a laboratory trying to analyze the data they recorded from their studies.

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Professor Lisa Yon said, “We traveled to some pretty out-of-the-way places and there was some danger associated with the travel (we were in areas that were under terrorist threats).”, when she was asked “what is the hardest part of being an oceanographer?” If a person is thinking about getting into the career of oceanography they should seriously think about if they have the ability to be away from their family for extended periods of time out at sea. The person thinking about getting into the profession should also be very good at math in both high school and college.

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Finally, the career of oceanography is very open to new scientist just starting. As we find more and more out about our sea more jobs can open up as old questions are answered and new questions are revealed. Most oceanographers can make from 50 to 80 thousand dollars a year. Most time is spent at sea and is necessary for finding data to a study. Salaries can come from both private and government sectors (Fergusons). Most times work is done in remote places (united). There are over 5,800 government employed scientist working in the field of oceanography today.

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As a result from all this, we have the field of oceanography. We can give so much credit to our countries and other individual people for helping the science of oceanography become what it is today. There is so much possibility this field of science has to offer. Through the study of the sea we can find more about the world around us and what path the earth is headed down. Without the discoveries we have made in oceanography we would not have the great medicines and other things we take for granted today.

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Works Cited

Corporate Strategic Comunications. “Careers in Oceanography: Ocean/Marine Related: A Sea of Possible Career Options.” Office of Naval Research-ONR. 08 Feb. 2009 .

“Dive and Discover : History of Oceanography.” Dive and Discover : Expeditions to the Seafloor. 03 Mar. 2009 .

Dr.Yon. “Careers in oceanography.” E-mail interview. 21 Feb. 2009.

Hall, William R. , and Elizabeth A Chajes. “Marine Careers: the scientist.” University of Delaware. 8 Feb. 2009 .

“Jacques-Yves Cousteau -.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 04 Mar. 2009 .

“Marine Chemists Service, Inc. |What is a marine Chemist?” Welcome to Marine Chemists Service, Inc.  2004. Marine Chemists Service, Inc. 08 Feb. 2009 .

“Oceanographer.” Career Opportunities in Conservation and Environment. New York: Ferguson Publishing, 2007. Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center. Facts offline, inc..

Ross, David A. “Oceanography, Geological.” Water: Science and Issues. Advameg Inc.            08 Mar. 2009 .

United States Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook. 1990-91 ed. LincolnWood: NTC Group, 1990