Author

I have made hundreds of dives in submersibles, with each dive holding the promise of seeing an organism or a behavior that no one has ever seen before. But I have always wondered about the animals and behaviors that we're not seeing because our bright lights and loud thrusters scare them away.

From Edith Widder

I had wanted to place the Eye-in-the-Sea at an oasis on the bottom of the ocean, in some site rich with life that was likely to be patrolled by large predators. The first time I got to test the camera at such a place was in 2004, in the north end of the Gulf of Mexico, at an amazing location called the brine pool.

From Edith Widder

It's a little-appreciated fact that most of the animals in our ocean make light. I've spent most of my career studying this phenomenon called bioluminescence. I study it because I think understanding it is critical to understanding life in the ocean where most bioluminescence occurs.

From Edith Widder

There's a lot of animals in the open ocean - most of them that make light. And we have a pretty good idea, for most of them, why. They use it for finding food, for attracting mates, for defending against predators. But when you get down to the bottom of the ocean, that's where things get really strange.

From Edith Widder

In 2010, there was a TED event called Mission Blue held aboard the Lindblad Explorer in the Galapagos as part of the fulfillment of Sylvia Earle's TED wish. I spoke about a new way of exploring the ocean, one that focuses on attracting animals instead of scaring them away.

From Edith Widder

We've only explored about five percent of our ocean. There are great discoveries yet to be made down there, fantastic creatures representing millions of years of evolution and possibly bioactive compounds that could benefit us in ways that we can't even yet imagine.

From Edith Widder

We need a NASA-like organization for ocean exploration, because we need to be exploring and protecting our life support systems here on Earth.

From Edith Widder

Exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth.

From Edith Widder

The one thing I've learned exploring the deep is that you just can't even begin to imagine some of the bizarre creatures that are down there.

From Edith Widder

Giant squid aren't rare. Based on the number of beaks that have been found in the stomachs of sperm whales, it's thought that there are actually millions of them in the ocean, and yet, we haven't seen them.

From Edith Widder

Edith Widder

Notable Quotes

Authors with Similar Views

Philippe Cousteau, Jr.

Ving Rhames

David Grann

Sylvia Earle

Brian Skerry

Authors with Opposing Views

Charles Saatchi

Chord Overstreet

James Balog

Jeffrey Kluger

Karl Pilkington