Cliff Newell (lft), former NOAA Dive Prog. Dir. & German diver during HELGOLAND.

I. Kobleck talking with topside during saturation.

R. Cooper displays rebreather (electro-lung) during New England lobster project.

HELGOLAND aquanauts R. Cooper (red) and A. Waterfield (blk) at the surface.

AQUARIUS undersea lab in Salt River Canyon.

HYDROLAB undersea habitat off Grand Bahama Island.

Bushnell's TURTLE used to place explosives to British ships in 1776.

Inside HYDROLAB habitat.

Navy's Deep Sea Rescue Vehicle, DSRV-1, used to assist the submarine fleet.

SEALAB III, last of the Navy's undersea habitats, circa 1969.

Bathyscathe, TRIESTE II, dove to over 13,000 feet in the late 1960s.

Navy's nuclear research sub NR-1 still operates out of Groton, CT.

Diver exits Navy Mark I Personnel Transfer Capsule (PTC).

Personnel Transfer Capsule (PTC) is used to evacuate undersea habitats.

DEEPSTAR 2000 submersible launched in 1969 by Westinghouse.

Inside GEORGE F. BOND habitat, renamed AQUARIUS before its first deployment.

Schematic of the HELGOLAND habitat operations to study herring off New England.

16th century painting of Alexander the Great, lowered in a glass diving bell.

In 1680, physicist Giovanni Borelli attempts to recycle his own breathing air.

CAV (Construction Assistance Vehicle) could transport a ton at over 2 knots.

TEKTITE I undersea habitat was built by General Electric in 1969.

EDALHAB habitat and support ship Lulu during FLARE project.

Roman Vegetius' impractical vision of a leather helmet and umbilical for war.

Lethbridge diving machine, 1715-- a one atmosphere system.

Model of TEKTITE habitat, circa 1970.

Inside TEKTITE I habitat, used by NASA to study drew performance.

SEALAB III and support ship USS Elk River-- fatality ended operations early.

An AUV as the first line of event response

Long-term observatories serve as bases for various undersea operations.

An early diving bell used by 16th Century divers during salvage operations. The book this came from is a text on ship salvage and includes diving information. In: Regola generale di soleuare ogni fondata naue & nauilii con ragione" by Niccolo Tartaglia.

NURP was formed based on a 1980 National Research Council review.

Logo of the National Undersea Research Center at UNCW, Southeast region.

Gulf of Mexico showing continental slope and Flower Gardens Banks.

Conch Reef, FL, home of the AQUARIUS undersea lab.

NURP logo as of 1997.

Undersea technologies from other countries.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NURP's agency.

1975 cover of the NOAA Dive Manual.

Cover to 1990 NURP brochure.

Deep sea submersibles, 1960-1990.

Inventory of undersea habitats, 1973.

Aquaculture facility on Lee Stocking Island, run by NURP's Caribbean center.

Schematic of NURP's former center at the Univ. of S. California.

Chart showing world's largest mountain range - the mid-ocean ridge system.

Axial Volcano, site of an observatory that monitors seismic activity.

USS MONITOR the night it sank off Cape Hatteras

Chart showing the Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges, hydrothermal vent sites.

Regions of responsibility for the NURP centers.

Charter research F/V Mirage at sunrise at Pt. Conception

Camera flash reflecting off PFDs during deployment of towed acoustic multibeam array aboard R/V THOMAS G. THOMPSON.