"Oceanography" is a broad field in which many sciences are focused on the common goal of understanding the oceans. Botany, cartography, chemistry, engineering, geography, geology, geophysics, limnology, mathematics, medicine, meteorology, and zoology all play roles in expanding our knowledge of marine environments. "Marine biology" is the study of life in the world's oceans, seas, bays and estuaries (in other words, in salt water), but requires an understanding of freshwater systems as well. It includes the study of all living marine organisms (from bacteria to whales) and their physical marine environment.
The field of oceanography is usually broken down into sub-disciplines, including: (1) Biological Oceanography – the study of marine organisms (plants and animals) and the relationship between those organisms and the environment of the oceans; (2) Chemical Oceanography – the study of the composition of seawater, its processes and cycles – current and historical, and the chemical exchanges between atmosphere and ocean; (3) Geological Oceanography – the study of the earth at the land/sea margin and below its surface, and the history of the processes that formed the ocean basins, continents and islands such as plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes; (4) Physical Oceanography – the study of how and why oceans move, including examinations of waves, currents, eddies, gyres and tides, and the interactions of atmospheric and oceanic movements; (5) Ocean Engineering – the discipline involved with the design and construction of scientific equipment and installations for use at sea; also studied are the interaction of the sea with the works of humankind; and (6) Marine Policy and Law – covers a broad range of ocean resource management issues, including the laws, regulations and policies concerning ocean environmental quality, fisheries, coastal zone management, marine archaeology and aquaculture.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) was established in 1973 to: (a) promote and encourage research and investigations for the study of the sea, particularly those related to the living resources thereof; (b) draw upon programs required for this purpose and to organize such research and investigations as may appear necessary; and (c) publish or otherwise disseminate the results.