UnSeaX

Throughout the longue durée, imperialist interests fostered the rise of physical ocean sciences, their popularity continuing well into the post WWII era, as new political and economic realities and challenges as well as newly introduced ecological considerations generated a profound interest in all marine – related research. In the Greek post – 1945 context, the economic incentive as motivation for sea science explorations was mainly linked with the procurement of urgently needed sustenance for big swathes of the population with fish stockpiles at the bottom of the Greek Seas remaining essentially underexploited. At the same time, sea science efforts in Greece were further driven by scientific aspirations and visions, closely adhering to the idea of Greece as the prototype maritime nation.

This project will trace and highlight the challenges and ideological motivations shaping and reshaping this new period of sea science in Greece which began with the establishment of the Greek Hydrobiology Institute in the coast of Piraeus in 1945 (the predecessor of ELKETHE, The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research) and will uncover the varied governmental, academic , and industry stakeholders involved in its course. It will further inquire into the specific political, economic, scientific, and even cultural parameters that determined the trajectory of Greek marine sciences in the post- war period and up until 1970 when sea science entered its more professionalised phase.

This project will bridge Environmental History with the History of Science and Technology in what aims to be the first systematic historical study of the exploration of the Greek deep sea environment in the post- war period, a topic largely absent in the literature.