The Aquarius Undersea Lab is a manned underwater research habitat located off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, the undersea lab has a colorful history with the enormous advantage of conducting research underwater in a natural environment for extended periods of time.
Since 1993, the Aquarius undersea lab has supported more than 90 missions, producing over 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications along with numerous popular science articles and educational programs.
NOAA has not given the green light for Aquarius to resume saturation missions in 2010, however, although the scientists are hopeful it will be forthcoming next week.
“We have different kinds of missions,” said spokesperson Dr. Ellen Prager, chief scientist at the Aquarius Reef Base which includes the Aquarius undersea laboratory, an ocean-observing platform with access to real-time data via the Internet, and a shore-based field station. “Our main missions are done underwater via saturation diving.”
A fatality occurred last May, when Aquarius crew member Dewey Smith, 36, was using specialized re-breather diving equipment that is computer operated. He drowned in a freak accident while working with Navy divers.
Craig Cooper said he is optimistic that Aquarius will be back in business in time for the upcoming Navy and NASA missions scheduled in April and May. After 19 years of keeping the world's premier underwater research laboratory running, Cooper retired this month as Aquarius operations director.
“We get an annual grant from NOAA which it gives to the UNC-W to administer and operate,” Prager said. “Because we had a death last year, a special circumstance, we’ve had to go through [a more laborious process to] proceed with our missions for this year.”
“This year’s schedule is almost full once we get in operation,” she added. “The science is important to understanding how coral reefs are changing over time in the Florida Keys, and to better understand how to develop technology and research to look at the impact of things like global warming on our reefs.”
A mission set for July is to study the demographics and impacts of sponges on water quality on coral reefs. Prager said sponges are on the rise in some areas, and thus scientists are asking, “How will that affect the reef? Are sponges going to make it harder for corals to come back? How will they change the seascape?”
One group is working on new technology – think CSI underwater, Prager said – technology that can sniff out chemicals in specific amounts. “The site is a test bed for technology.”
Aquarius is the world’s only operating undersea research laboratory. In 1992, it was deployed four miles off Key Largo. Its base sits at a depth of 62 feet within a sandy patch on Conch Reef, a coral reef site characterized by spur and groove formations to depths of over 100 feet. After conducting 20 missions, Aquarius was retrieved in 1996 due to funding constraints. New operating protocols were then developed, funding was restored, and Aquarius was refurbished during 1997. In 1998, it was redeployed to Conch Reef.
The habitat itself is a 9 feet diameter by 43 feet long steel cylinder that can support operations to depths of 120 feet. The habitat includes a seawater interface in a “Wet Porch” and two pressure locks known as the Entry Lock and Main Lock. Approximately 400 square feet of living and laboratory space is available for operations and science. The lab is equipped with computers networked to shore, Internet, telephones, radios, video conferencing and broadcast equipment.
Missions in Aquarius typically last ten days and aquanaut trainees undergo five days of specialized training before each mission starts. Missions generally are conducted on a monthly basis from April through November.
Saul Rosser is Aquarius’ new Florida operations director; he replaced Cooper.
The Aquarius website (www.uncw.edu/aquarius) contains detailed information about current science projects. Also, Dr. Prager can arrange lectures about Aquarius. She can be reached at 305-720-7070.
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