It
is thought that the modern practice of vacationing by the sea
probably originated in
Victorian times as holiday specimen collecting trips to the coast, becoming
a popular pastime as the Naturalist movement grew.
However, the
marine
and coastal environments have long held our interest as an "unexplored"
world.
It was during the last half of the 19th
Century that the foundations for modern Marine Science were laid,
with the various voyages of scientific discovery in the world's
oceans. One of the most
famous would be the HMS Challenger Expedition in 1872, but there
were many others, and they have continued on through the 20th Century, to this day. |