Divers secure semi-submersible barge after releasing submersible.

DEEP ROVER is a one person sub with an acryllic sphere.

Deep Ocean Engineering's DEEP ROVER one person sub dives to 300 meters.

JSL prepares to dive-- note dryer hose type suction tube on the arm.

ALVIN in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents.

ALVIN is named after engineer Allyn Vine-- not a chipmunk.

ALVIN descends to its maxium depth of 4000 m (mean ocean depth is 3800 m).

ALVIN loaded for sample collection dives in 2500 meters off New Jersey.

ALVIN and its original catamaran support ship, LULU.

NEKTON GAMMA begins descent to sample Bahamian reefs.

DELTA deployed off Oregon to study rockfish habitat.

ALUMINAUT, 51 ft. long, five person sub, more submarine than submersible.

ASHERAH,shallow (200 m), cheap ($25,000) Navy submersible built in 1964.

ALVIN deploys baited traps to attract six gill sharks.

MERMAID deployed from support ship Aloha-- commercial sub leased for science.

WASP pilot trains to do underwater manipulative tasks.

JIM suit recovered through Arctic ice.

JIM is named after Jim Jarrett, Tritonia suit diver and Lusitania explorer.

Dr. Sylvia Earle prepares to dive in a JIM suit.

Clelia submarine on board Harbor Branch's Sea Diver. This submersible dives to 1,000 meters.

Pisces V prepares to dive to 2,000 meters off Hawaii.

Launching the DSV Turtle from the Laney Chouest.

DSV Alvin hovers above deck before diving to 4,000 meters.

DSV Alvin sets a lander basket with tube cores on the bottom.

Kevin McCarthy communicates with the surface while in saturation.

Dr. Sylvia Earle displays samples to aquanaut inside TEKTITE.

Personnel Transfer Capsule (PTC) can mate with habitats and evacuate aquanauts.

EDALHAB was built of salvage materials and similar in design to HYDROLAB.

The main chamber of HELGOLAND was known as the "pregnant elephant."

AEGIR, named for the Norse god of the sea, was designed for depths to 180 m.

NURP's AQUARIUS habitat was first named after George Bond, "Pappa Topside."

Habitat chambers must be routinely stripped and recertified every 4-5 years.

HELOGOLAND's life support buoy provided power and communications.

SEALAB I was the first habitat in the Navy's now defunct man-in-the-sea program.

SEALAB II, resting on an angle off California, was dubbed the "Tilton Hilton."

Model of TEKTITE I, last of Navy's habitats, conducted a 60 day mission in 1969.

LA CHALUPA, built in 1972, now operates as an undersea hotel off Key Largo, FL.

Aquanaut works at computer inside AQUARIUS.

AQUARIUS, deployed in 1986 off St. Croix, due to dedication of Sen. L. Weicker.

SEALAB II built on SEALAB I, e.g., multiple chambers & dedicated support ship.

Snorkeler visits the Marine Resources Lab now in a lagoon off Key Largo, FL.

Marine Resources Undersea Laboratory is open for education and public visits.

Mar. Resources Lab entry lock is an acryllic sphere.

EDALHAB was built and operated through an industry/academia partnership.

Bunk room of AQUARIUS, sleeps six.

HYDROLAB home to over 700 aquanauts from 1966-1985.

Aquanaut enters the wet porch of AQUARIUS.

HYDROLAB in Salt River Canyon off St. Croix.

Aquanauts deploy experiment outside HYDROLAB.

Wet porch entry to HYDROLAB, way station in background.