JULES VERNE WAS FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME IN WRITING ABOUT LIFE UNDER THE SEAS

We barely know fully two thirds of this planet we call home, and that we have lived on for a very long time. The hidden part of earth is a vast matrix of relationships: Sharks, plankton, red tides, thermal vents spewing boiling water—they are all connected to each other. If scientists can untangle these ties, they can start to predict how certain changes within our oceans will affect the weather, crops and ultimately life on earth.

The National Undersea Research Program (NURP) serves the nation by providing undersea scientists with the tools and expertise they need to work in the undersea environment. It is headquartered in NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) in Silver Spring, MD.  Highest priority is given to studies in the United States, its large lakes, territorial seas, and adjacent waters. The regional centers annually support two hundred or more undersea research projects that address NOAA's mission as steward of oceanic resources and environments. Recent accomplishments include: *Research on the effects of trawling on seafloor habitats, *Research on factors affecting coral health, *Research on frozen methane hydrates (Hydrates may hold more than 1,000 times more energy than all estimated oil and gas sources combined). NURP has supported numerous submersible cruises in the Gulf of Mexico to study hydrates, their unique environments and the ecosystems associated with them.

What are the goals for this group in the next decade:         * Assume leadership of the U.S. Program in ocean exploration to better assess living and non-living resources; * Improve understanding of undersea ecosystems; * Support exploration and discovery of new resources, including biomedical substances;      Improve the science basis to maintain healthy fisheries stocks and rebuild protected species. * Develop principal technologies to support exploration and research in the undersea environment. Ultimately our very survival may depend on some of these efforts.