Homo Aquaticus: New Frontiers in Living and Working in the Ocean

The ocean plays a critical role in the well-being of all humans on the planet, yet in many ways, we are still just at the beginning stages of ocean exploration. This gap in our understanding is particularly salient in the context of human presence within (as opposed to, on the surface of) the sea. Recent advances in several areas of marine research and technology as well as in the social sciences have the potential to re-envision how we work within the ocean, ranging from telepresence via robots to direct observation via brief visits using crewed submersibles to living on the seafloor using saturation diving. Yet the full potential of these methods to fully engage the non-scientific public requires a new paradigm for how Western societies live and work as part of the ocean, ideas envisaged using cutting-edge methods of storytelling such as film and serious games, and informed by multiple non-Western cultures.

The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together experts from a wide diversity of disciplines within the sciences and humanities to address several questions:

-What are the costs and benefits of scientific research approaches based on extended human presence within the ocean? What can we learn only, or best, by “seeing it for ourselves”?

-What are the most effective ways of inclusively sharing those experiences with non-scientists who may never visit the seafloor, and can and do these approaches promote ocean stewardship?

-What are the technological, societal, and cognitive barriers that currently limit human exploration and the full potential of humanity’s presence in the ocean?

This Research Topic invites research articles, syntheses, reviews, and (if well-justified) opinion pieces on any topical area related to humanity’s presence in the ocean, including but not limited to scuba and technical diving, saturation diving, crewed submersibles, human-robot interactions; telepresence using robots, virtual reality simulations and digital twins, serious games, and ocean storytelling. Please note that we are not accepting articles that primarily rely on surface (ship-based or remote) technologies. Specifically, we are interested in research that explicitly includes a human element and especially approaches that consider the ocean as a socio-ecological system. We are also interested in articles that explore analogies between ocean and space exploration, and papers that examine diverse, multicultural perspectives of the undersea environment.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Underwater Exploration; Human Presence; Perception; Engagement; Futures; Social-Ecological Systems; Diving

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.