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Some may be interested in my new blog on the Huffington Post Science page about the golden anniversary of SEALAB II, which happens to coincide with the current mission at the Aquarius Reef Base, a SEALAB descendant. SEALAB II got started the last week of August 1965 and ran for 45 days -...

Hello diving history fans. . . You may be interested in my blog about SEALAB II's golden anniversary, which happens to coincide with the current mission at Aquarius Reef Base just south of the Keys. Included in the blog you'll find a link to one of the more amusing congratulatory calls from a...

I thought some on ScubaBoard might be interested in reading my lament/finger-wag about how a major chapter in diving history, and a significant historical chapter more generally, is still being overlooked, even on its 50 anniversary. . . It's posted today in The Huffington Post: SEALAB's 50th...

Walter F. Mazzone, a top SEALAB officer, Jan. 19, 1918 - Aug. 7, 2014. Please see the obituary I've posted on my website to learn a bit more about this remarkable American, who of course figures prominently in my book, SEALAB. Captain Mazzone played a critical role in the U.S. Navy project and...

I've had a few opportunities lately to write about SEALAB's golden anniversary, and here's one essay that I think pretty well sums up the U.S. Navy's game-changing project and its legacy, written for a Los Angeles-based website called Zocalo Public Square: Zócalo Public Square :: Is the Final...

My sampling of some notable recent sub-aquatic technologies has been posted on the Men's Journal website. I thought some divers might find one or another of the nine featured items interesting, including the Exosuit, the Triton 36000/3 sub and the Diver Hand-Held Sonar. I'd be glad to hear what...

Condolences to the Carpenter family . . . Mentioned toward the end of today's New York Times obituary is that Scott Carpenter became an aquanaut, "spending a month living and working on the ocean floor, at a depth of 205 feet, in the Sealab project off San Diego in 1965." No small feat ! He made...

Some divers out there might be interested in my brief overview of our halting efforts at manned undersea exploration, now online at Slate magazine. For much more about all this, there is of course my book, SEALAB: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor, now also available...

Fifty years ago today three Navy volunteers emerged, scruffy but grateful, from a chamber at the Experimental Diving Unit, shown below, after living in a mixed-gas atmosphere at the pressure equivalent of a 100-foot dive. The trio had been sealed in there for the unprecedented duration of a...

Just over a month to go before Scuba Show 2013 on June 8-9 in Long Beach, where I'll be doing a seminar about SEALAB based on my book. I'm honored to be in the company of many fine presenters, as you can see on the program, and for me the location is especially fitting, since both SEALAB II and...

. . .and thanks for putting SEALAB in such great company in your latest Facebook post: The History of Diving Museum - Islamorada, FL - Education, Public Places & Attractions | Facebook - Ben

Robert Thompson, a U.S. Navy doctor and one of the four original SEALAB I aquanauts, died Feb. 11. He was 84. Thompson is pictured here, as in my book - second from the right, back in the summer of 1964 in Bermuda, just before SEALAB I was lowered to the bottom for an inaugural test of a (then)...

The latest issue of The New York Review of Books features a cover story on deep diving, mainly in the commercial field, and opens with the historic - if tragic - thousand-foot dive of 50 years ago by Hannes Keller, which is also detailed in my book, SEALAB. Others will likely find the article to...

Capt. George F. Bond, a Navy doctor and the father of the SEALAB program in the 1960s, died Jan. 3, 1983, at the age of 67. For those who may not know of this singular American, whose vision forever changed the history of diving, the first chapter of my new book makes a fitting tribute.

My cousin just gave me a copy of this yesterday, picked up at a garage sale - No. 11 in the "The Aquanauts" series. Anyone remember these books, from circa early 1970s? Not sure Bill Martin & co. featured in "Operation Mermaid" and the other stories actually fit the definition of "aquanaut" that...

Anyone ever see this rig? Good to 600+ feet . . .

So many great discussions going here – about diving gear, physiology, psychology, safety, fitness and even smoking (and gel-filled bikini tops). I'm struck by how a lot of the same kinds of questions were being asked by the divers (and scientists) featured in my new book, SEALAB: America’s...

Over Thanksgiving 50 years ago, three U.S. Navy volunteers spent their holiday (plus a few additional days) locked inside a steel test chamber like this one (at the Experimental Diving Unit, then in Washington, D.C.), which I hope shows up in the attached picture - vintage equipment, for sure...

For anyone who may not have heard about my new book, SEALAB: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor, I'll be talking about it tomorrow on Scuba Radio. If you can't catch the program on the airwaves it'll soon be online at scubaradio.com, and I'll link to it on my website...

I'll be talking about my new book, SEALAB, with host Greg the Divemaster tomorrow on his Scuba Radio show. If you can't tune in or the program doesn't air in your area, the segment will be online soon, at scubaradio.com. I'll post a link to it on my website, too, SEALAB – A book by Ben...