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Oceanography

Andrew Vuong

St. Petersburg College

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Oceanographer

My career that I have chosen is as an Oceanographer. I have chosen a career in

Oceanography so that I can teach others about the mysteries of our vast oceans. Oceanography

deals with everything related to the oceans. Some specific focuses that are related to

Oceanography are: Marine Biology, Chemical Analysis, Physical Oceanography, and Ocean

Geographer. Some questions I have for this subject would be, What are the average salaries of

oceanographer in the United States? Why is oceanography important? And, what are the tasks of

a oceanographer? Oceanography is a field needed by many environmental agencies to see if our

oceans are healthy, and if it'll effect our way of life on land.

What are the average salaries of Oceanographers in the United States? The employment

of Oceanographers in the United States is not at an all time high. The total employment number

is 34,510, with an average salary of $41,700. All states in the United States have an annual salary

for Oceanographers. Some of the highest being: Nevada ($62,630), South Carolina ($63,650),

Washington ($53,420), Rhode Island ($56,620), Maryland ($51,580), etc. Surprisingly, Florida

has an average salary of $34,520, but a total employment number of 1,780 people

(environmentalscience.org, 2017).

Why is oceanography important? Oceanography effects all aspects of life. It is critically

important for sustaining all life on earth (Morrow, 2015). Maintaining the balance within' the

ocean allows the world's carbon levels to be at a stable condition. A gigantic amount of much of

the earth's oxygen comes from the ocean. The crashing of waves upon one another releases the

element oxygen, a necessity to most life-forms. If the balance of the ocean is ever messed with, it

could mean life would cease to exist. Also, the oceans contain many natural resources that are
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virtually untapped. There may also be a cure for deadly diseases within' our oceans (Morrow,

2015).

What are some of the tasks that Oceanographers do? The 4 branches of Oceanography

has their individual focuses. Biologist study marine plants and animals, Physical Oceanographers

explore temperature, density, wave motion, tide and currents, Geological Oceanographers

examine the structure and make-up of the ocean floor, and Chemical Oceanographers analyze the

chemicals in sea water and the impact of pollutants (Skills Funding Agency, 2016). Some

everyday tasks that all the fields must do are: plan and carry out research expeditions, manage

research projects, preparing scientific equipment, designing experiments to test your hypothesis,

using equipment to collect samples and data, tracking changes in environment, using computers

to produce models of the ocean (i.e. maps), writing reports of your research findings and

publishing/ presenting your findings.

Oceanography is a subject that affects everything around us. It effects our way of life, it

effects our economy, and it helps improve our knowledge on the world we live on. The salaries

of oceanographers are very important to the economy, because in the next decade or so, the

growth of all biological occupations are suppose to go up by 18%. Resulting a boost in the

economy. Oceanography is also very important to everything living on this earth. It gives us

oxygen, natural resources, solutions to diseases, etc. It can be very beneficial to the way we live

life. Lastly, the task of Oceanographer is like that of many other types of scientists. They use

scientific method just like every other field to solve different questions and hypothesis they want

answered. In conclusion, Oceanography is an important scientific field out of many other majors.

It has many unknown subjects we've yet to discover, possibly helping improve and advance our

society as a whole.
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References

Agency, S. F. (2016, December 26). Oceanographer. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/job-profiles/oceanographer

Morrow, K. (2015, September 15). Why is oceanography important? | Socratic. Retrieved March

12, 2017, from https://socratic.org/questions/why-is-oceanography-important

What is an Oceanographer? (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2017, from

http://www.environmentalscience.org/career/oceanographer