In summary, 3D printing technologies offer exciting opportunities for rapid prototyping of complex and customized models at low cost. Nevertheless, thorough investigations similar to the examples discussed in previous section should be conducted for the different 3D printing materials applied to oceanography studies in order to avoid further damage to fragile marine ecosystems (Galloway and Lewis, 2016). It is anticipated that 3D printing technologies will be further exploited for a variety of fundamental studies in oceanography due to the ease, low cost and short time required for evaluating several different 3D models. It is also anticipated that this review will further promote the 3D printing technologies to oceanographers for a better understanding and restoration of fragile marine ecosystems.