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My sister and I sat on the deck of our rented cabin above a wide sandy beach, ready for the sunset. Our eyes were on the glittering ocean, glasses of wine were in our hands, smoked peppered local salmon and smoked Pacific oysters from upcoast waited on the cedar table. (Yes, sorry, it’s a classic fantasy. Bliss. It’s almost embarrassing to mention. But in Oregon this experience is still available, at a reasonable price.)

The sun dropped into a low layer of fog without drama, but then a glorious afterglow spread across the sky.

I asked my sister what she felt when she looked at the ocean. She said it was the constant motion, constant change; rhythmic but not ever the same. A randomness, yet also a pattern. Peace, she said. Later I asked our landlady the same question. “Amazement, always,” was her answer. “And the ocean is never the same, no matter how long you live beside it.”

Yes, I thought, that kind of sums it up for me too, and probably for most of us. We are drawn to the ocean, it fills us with wonder and restores our spirits, as do forests and mountains and undisturbed meadows, as does wild nature in all its forms. Being land animals, though, most of us experience only the surface and edge of the ocean. And our inability to see what’s going on in deep water is dangerous because by the time we become aware of extreme damage to ocean life, it may be too late to restore what’s lost.

Fortunately, new tools are now available to expand our vision. In this issue, we report how advanced mapping technology is revealing the continuity of geological forms from the tops of watersheds to ocean depths. With this technology, the seafloor can be seen in detail and at landscape-sized scale. Bottom habitat can be mapped with new precision. (See “Ocean Floor Mapping.") With such techniques, complemented by surveys using remotely operated vehicles and small manned submersibles (see “The Flight of the ROV,” Coast & Ocean, Summer 2004), more and more of the California ocean is coming to public attention and eliciting concern.