A Sideways perspective on deep-sea vertical habitats

Our understanding of the ocean has always been influenced, and somewhat limited, by our perspective, looking down into the abyss from the surface. In terrestrial environments, the arrival of satellites greatly enhanced the amount of spatial information humanity could access, but only if this down-looking view were to be available - without us living on the actual surface - many dramatic landscapes (e.g., steep canyon walls, overhanging cliffs on mountain faces, etc.) and a good deal of our understanding of how out planet works would be missed.