Ocean Introduction

_ The ocean is a wilderness reaching round the globe, wilder than a Bengal jungle, and fuller of monsters, washing the very wharves of our cities and the gardens of our sea-side residences. Serpents, bears, hyenas, tigers rapidly vanish as civilization advances, but the most populous and civilized city cannot scare a shark far from its wharves.
[Thoreau1906, vol. 4, p.188] _
{ Does this seem like a good introductory ocean quote? Any other suggestions? }

A seastead needs to survive and thrive in the ocean environment. In this section we’ll describe that environment, its dangers, and our plans for avoiding them..

What is the ocean environment? Obviously, it consists of a great deal of salt water (about 3% solution.) The disolved salt causes two problems – first, it causes many materials to corrode and second, it renders the water unfit for drinking. In addition to the water, the ocean environment has weather. This includes temperature variation, wind, humidity, rain, etc. Convection and Coriolis effects cause movement of the air (wind) and water (currents) in roughly consistent patterns. The wind causes the growth of waves which can become quite significant.

The ocean is full of life, from tiny algae to the largest living creature: Balaenoptera musculus _, the blue whale. The most dangerous marine creature, however, is _homo sapiens, whose warships have teeth sharper than any shark. Correspodingly, the most complicated element of the ocean environment is the labyrinthine system of laws and regulations that humans have developed to govern it.