Episode 102: Mission to Inner Space

They call it “inner space.” It’s an inhospitable environment that’s difficult to explore and unfit for human habitation. Nevertheless, scientists have figured out ways to live and work on the ocean floor.

The Aquarius Undersea Laboratory is the only underwater operating station in the world today. Located inside the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, at 60 feet below the ocean’s surface, this unique facility provides researchers around the clock access to the nearby coral reef. Known as “America’s Inner Space Station,” the Aquarius Reef Base becomes home to a select few as they spend 10 straight days underwater. During this specific mission, a team of ‘Aquanauts,’ or saturation divers, studies the local effects of a global problem, ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification is caused by a change in the water’s chemistry. Increased levels of CO2 in the water are causing lowered pH levels, making it potentially more difficult for organisms like corals to form their calcium carbonate skeletons. This Aquarius mission is unique in that it is the first ocean acidification study during which aquanauts conduct various experiments and take continuous measurements while living out on a coral reef. What will their findings tell us?

Experts

Meet the experts featured in this episode.

Episode Photos

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Aquanauts Niels Lindquist, Ph.D. (left) and Chris Martens, Ph.D. (right) are ready to start their saturation mission. Aquanauts wear redundant air systems for safety purposes.

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Aquarius staff taking supplies to the Aquarius Undersea Lab.

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The inside of Aquarius, featuring the kitchen and seating area on the left and the bunks at the end.

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Aquarius can sleep a total of six people.

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Aquanauts Niels Lindquist, Ph.D. (left) and Chris Martens, Ph.D. (right) inside the Aquarius Habitat.

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Some of the many control panels inside the Aquarius Habitat.

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Niels Lindquist, Ph.D. (left) and Habitat Technician Nate Bender (right) inside the Aquarius Habitat.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson filming just outside of one of the Aquarius Habitat portholes.

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A diver lies next to the Aquarius “gazebo.” Inside the gazebo divers can refill their tanks and communicate with Aquanauts inside the habitat.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson films a diver working on the Aquarius Habitat platform.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson films the aquanauts at work.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson gets a close-up of the highly sensitive water monitoring devices.

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During this mission scientists use high tech instruments to measure and monitor pH levels in the water.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson films as a scientist injects harmless green dye into a sponge to measure its respiration.

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A school of fish gathers beneath the Aquarius Habitat.

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A side view of the Aquarius Habitat.

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A lot of fish are attracted to the shelter provided by the Aquarius Habitat.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson films outside of the Aquarius “gazebo” as divers refill their tanks inside.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson films outside the Aquarius Habitat.

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The Aquarius Reef Base.

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Chris Martens, Ph.D. looks through a porthole as Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson films from outside of the Aquarius Habitat.

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Pizza – it’s what’s for dinner! Aquanauts consume high caloric foods to offset the calories lost during long diving operations.

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An exterior view of the Aquarius Habitat.

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An aquanaut filming parts of his experiment.

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Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson and one of the aquanauts film the harmless green dye the scientist injected into a sea sponge as part of his experiment.

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Divers from the Aquarius Reef Base and Changing Seas Videographer Jeremy Nicholson (center) film an experiment involving a sea sponge.

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The Aquarius Life Support Buoy.

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Changing Seas Series Producer Alexa Elliott (left) with Videographers Allan Farrell (center) and Robert Makovicka (right) on the support vessel the day the aquanauts re-surfaced.

Special Thanks:

Bayside Inn Key Largo
99490 Overseas Highway
Key Largo, FL 33037
(800) 242-5229

The Pelican
99340 Overseas Highway
Key Largo, FL 33037
(877) 451-3576

Image Credits

Changing Seas would like to thank the following individuals and institutions who kindly allowed their footage, images and other media to be used in this production:

Chris Martens, Ph.D.
UNC-Chapel Hill
Department of Marine Sciences

Dominic Landucci
NOAA’s Aquarius Reef Base

Mario Deas

National Park Service
South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Network

Justin B. Ries, Ph.D.
UNC-Chapel Hill
Department of Marine Sciences

Tom Kleindinst
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

NASA

NASA World Wind