By: Jessie Liang

More than 80% of earth’s watery depth of oceans have been undiscovered or seen by humans, so imagine discovering the depths under the sea not by heavy machinery or modern day high tech gadgets, but just the power of a majestic and intelligent marine animal. That’s what a group of researchers did to find out more of the unknown.

According to The New York Times, Nathan Angelakis, a Ph.D. student at the South Australian Research and development Institute (Aquatic Sciences) and the University of Adelaide said that “For most of the ocean, we don’t know what the bottom looks like.” Add two more sentences here analyzing or commenting on the quote. For example, which oceans are fully mapped? What percentage of the world’s oceans are mapped?

So, for recent research, for mapping and exploring part of the ocean floor, Nathan Angelakis gathered some colleagues, and 4 sea lion helpers named Daphne, Phoebe, Iris and Pastithea. The team of researchers dived in the ocean along with video cameras and dived to several parts of the sea floor where researchers had never seen before. The videos showed lots of sandy bottoms with mossy patches of seaweed and several pieces of coral.

After locating where the sea lions rest and sunbathe during the day. Knowing that and getting approval from marine conservation authorities, Nathan Angelakis and his research team found them awakening but still while groggy they quickly glued small patches of a synthetic wet suit material with tiny cameras attached that locates speed and location of the sea lion. The sea-lions returned to the ocean after awakening.

As soon as the team retrieved the camera, they were able to make maps, identify the sea floors, take a closer look at marine life and watch real-life exciting moments of hunting, preying, or just these amazing sea-lions. But most importantly, explore the world under the sea and learn more about sea-lions.