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Polynesians colonized the islands of the south and western Pacific, from New Guinea in the west to Fiji and Samoa in the middle. Then they moved onward to Tahiti and finally Easter Island in the eastern south Pacific. They also colonized the Hawaiian Islands 500 years ago. They were known as very observant they took notes of the direction waves came from and how they affected their canoes. They were also one of the first to use stars to help them navigate across the ocean.

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Around 900 BC the Greeks sailed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. While out they saw a current going from north to south. At the time they thought that rivers only had currents and not oceans. They noticed the water and decided to name it “Okeanos” which means river. And the Greeks feel they are spiritually connected to the sea.

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Pytheas was a navigator, geographer, and astronomer. He was the first Greek to visit the British Isles and the Atlantic coast of Europe. Most of his major work on the ocean is lost. He spent a lot of his time measuring distances between oceans

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The Vikings were the worlds greatest explorers from the 8th century to the 11th century. They went on a lot of sea voyages throughout Northern Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean. The only things they used to help them on voyages were the sun compass and a rock that the call a sunstone. Some of the things they did were look out for birds and smell if they were near land, they also followed the color of the sea and the wind direction.

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Prince Henry noticed the importance of the Ocean. He noticed how helpful it would be with trade and commerce. He also looked at it as a center of learning for marine sciences. He ran a school of navigation. He also played a major role in developing more accurate maps and the engineering of a new ship.

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Bartholomew Diaz was a mariner and explorer from Portuguese. He led the first European expedition to round the cape of good hope. He is known to be the greatest Portuguese pioneer who explored the Atlantic during the 15th century. His voyage also showed that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans flowed into each other.

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Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer born in Nov 1469. He took a trip directly from Europe to India. He was the first European to reach India by sea. His rounded Africa’s cape of good hope. The trip took two voyages before he reached India on May 20th, 1498. While on his journey he traded in locales along the coast of southern Africa.

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Christopher Columbus was an explorer who made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. He started his voyage in 1942. He also travelled in 1943, 1498, and 1502. While on his journey he came across the America’s. He was known as the discoverer of the new world.

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Amerigo Vespucci was the first person to identify the new world as a new continent. He went on a voyage in 1501. On his voyage he discovered that America was a completely different continent from Asia. His discovery challenged the belief that Christopher Columbus had reached the uncharted eastern edge of Asia.

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Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer. In 1513 he was out searching for gold when he came across the Pacific Ocean. He claimed the ocean and its shores for Spain on September 27th, 1513. He also named the Pacific Ocean the south sea.

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Sir Francis drake is best known for navigating around earth in 1577-1580. He was credited for his defense of England by raiding Spain’s Harbor in 1587. He also made several voyages to the west indie as a slave trader. He also was buried at sea off the coast of Portobelo, Panama.

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James’s cook was a captain in the British navy. He led 3 voyages around the Pacific Ocean. He spent 12 years sailing around the Pacific Ocean. He helped Europeans have better knowledge of the area. His explorations contributed significantly to geographic, oceanographic, and astronomic knowledge.

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John Harrison was an English clockmaker and carpenter. He invented the first marine chronometer. His invention helped solve the problem of calculating longitude at sea. He also helped ship navigators out a lot because his invention helped improve the safety of traveling long distances at sea.

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Matthew Maury was an American oceanographer and naval officer born in 1806. He is considered a founder of oceanography. He is known as “the pathfinder of the seas”. He showed sailors how to use the oceans currents and winds which helped reduce the length of Ocean Voyages. He died in 1873 and was named the father of oceanography.

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The challenger expedition started in 1872 and ended in 1876. It was a scientific program that was used to gather data on a wide range of ocean features. It helped study the geography of the seafloor, marine life, seawater chemistry, currents and more. Most people believe this to be the first oceanographic expedition. and they gathered data at 362 oceanographic stations on temperature, currents, water chemistry, and ocean floor deposits.

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The German Meteor expedition lasted from 1925-1927. It explored the South Atlantic Ocean from the equatorial region to Antarctica. They studied depth soundings, water temperatures, water samples, and studied marine life. Most people consider it to be the first oceanographic expedition because it helped give so much information about the ocean.

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ROV’s are vehicles that allow you to explore the ocean without having to get in the ocean. They are operated by a joystick. Most of them come with cameras, lights, and video footage. They have been proven valuable for ocean education.

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AUV’s are operated by humans. They carry equipment for sampling and surveying such as cameras, sonar, and depth sensors. They are used for ocean-based research. Scientists use AUVs to create maps of the ocean floor, record environmental information, sense what humans have left behind, identify hazards to navigation and more.

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Satellites are used to study the ocean as well. Oceanographers use satellites to collect data from all around the world in a short amount of time. They are used to measure things like the ocean’s temperature, speed of wind, height of the water, and many other things. They are also used to track animals.

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GPS used in oceanography for mariners. They use it as the fastest and most reliable tool for navigate, know their location, and speed. The GPS increased safety for mariners worldwide. The first GPS was invented around 1989 and 1997.