It's much cheaper to explore the ocean than it is to explore space, and many benefits like: OTEC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion http://cleantechnica.com/2013/05/05/lockheed-martin-to-build...), mining ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining), etc.
Others agree:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/01/31/why-dont-we-spe...
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/09/opinion/etzioni-space-oceans/i...
But, I personally think we should be exploring space and our oceans. We need to make it a top priority of all countries to fund energy and propulsion research to help make exploration cheaper. That means allocating adequate budget and raising taxes for something that the mass media and our government doesn't seem to give much of a shit about, because they don't understand the part of the world we currently are utilizing is running out of resources quickly and that we are constantly a stone's throw from mass extinction.