First-ever Sea Lab celebrates its 60th Anniversary

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. ( WMBB ) – 60 years ago today, was the first-ever Sea Lab that has pioneered saturation diving.

They held an anniversary event at the Man in the Sea Museum with special guest speakers.

Off the coast of Bermuda on July 20, 1964, four divers descended 192 feet to the ocean floor. For 11 days they remained underwater doing valuable research and proving that saturation diving is a viable method of attaining deep sea knowledge.

Many of the ideas that were used during the first sea lab expedition are still used. Due to its success, there were two more sea labs following it.

“This whole Sea Lab program, which once again started 60 years ago with the concept of saturation diving, which is used today by the oil rigs and, and just all the commercial companies that are out there diving just to get deeper depths and stay longer and get more work done. And it’s thanks to these heroes that really prove the concept of saturation,” Man in the Sea Museum Executive Director Steve Mulholland said.

The vessel was 40 feet long and 9 feet wide. It sits right outside of the museum. Attendees were able to go inside and see how those four divers had to live.

“Oh, feels amazing. It kind of seems like I’ve just stumbled into history in the making because there are a lot of people here that made the foundation of what this program is about. And I think that’s just amazing to actually be a part of it in the moment, you know,” volunteer Cayden Foster said.

During the event, the crowd was able to listen to several guest speakers including aquanauts, engineers, and support divers.

Aquanaut, Fabien Cousteau says we’ve learned so much from the divers of sea lab one.

“We are standing on the shoulders of giants and we look forward to honoring their legacy and hopefully doing them justice by continuing on in that vein. And it’s thanks to them that we know anything about this kind of platform. And we’re looking forward not only to learning more but also taking it to the next generation,” Aquanaut Ocean Explorer Fabien Cousteau said.

Fabien Cousteau says he couldn’t imagine doing anything else and is looking forward to continuing his underwater research.

“People protect what they love. They love what they understand. And they understand what they’re talking. And with that, I follow up by saying, how can we make better decisions to shepherd our life support system, the ocean, if we don’t know anything about it? The only way we can is to go longer, deeper, and further and push the boundaries of the know so that we can give back to our future generations,” Cousteau said.

If you missed the anniversary on Saturday, you can check out Sea Lab One and other diver relics at the Man in the Sea Museum Wednesday through Saturday.

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