NOAA’s National Ocean Service started as a small scientific agency with one mission, to chart our new nation’s coasts and coastal waters so the many ships that traversed the Atlantic and Caribbean could arrive safely. As the years passed, new ocean- and coast-related missions were added to the agency. In this episode, discover the origins of the National Ocean Service, including how two U.S. founding fathers, president Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, played a part in this ocean history lesson.