Illuminating the Abyss: The Unknown Ocean
Saturday, June 5, 2010, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
The oceans remain a realm of mystery, with an astonishing 95% still unmapped, but their secrets are starting to be revealed. Journey into the deep to explore exciting discoveries like sea sponges with cancer-fighting potential and underwater mountain ranges that may hold the clue to life’s origin. ABC News’ Bill Weir moderates a discussion with marine biologist Sylvia Earle, oceanographer David Gallo and Fabien Cousteau. Rare footage of pioneer Jacques Cousteau will take us back to the early days of passionate ocean exploration; the premiere of "behind-the-scenes” footage from Jacques Perrin's new film Oceans will inspire with a vision of what lies ahead.
Moderator: Bill Weir
Participants:
The National Geographic Society's explorer-in-residence since 1998, Sylvia Earle tirelessly works for the preservation and exploration of the world's marine ecosystems. She has led more than 50 expeditions and spent more than 6,500 hours of her life underwater.
David Gallo was one of the first oceanographers to use a combination of submarines and robots to map the undersea world. The Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he has taken part in an exploration of RMS Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck using the Russian MIR submarines, as well as a recent expedition to find the lost WWII submarine USS Grunion.
David E. Guggenheim, also known as the “Ocean Doctor,” is a marine scientist, conservation policy specialist, submarine pilot and ocean explorer. He played a leading role in building the recently-formed Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a partnership among the U.S. Gulf states and 13 federal agencies and Mexico. In 2007, as a scientific advisor to Greenpeace for its expedition to map deepwater corals in the Bering Sea, he piloted the first-ever manned submersible dives into the Bering Sea’s largest underwater canyons.
Since joining ABC News in 2004, Bill Weir has anchored several launches and landings of the Space Shuttle, was the first American to broadcast live from Tibet and led off 2007's Earth Day special with an unprecedented underwater live report from the Great Barrier Reef.
