The Use of Deep-Diving Systems in Marine Research

U.S. Navy saturation divers aboard the DTV ELK RIVER and the U.S.S. PIGEON have participated in a marine-research program using the Deep-Diving System Mk 2 (DDS) on board each ship. The divers performed a variety of scientific tasks to depths between 30 and 260 m, including the collection of "marine snow" (fragile aggregates of suspended particles visible underwater in many areas), gelatinous zooplankton, as well as observations of bioluminescence. Since May of 1981 there have been 20 saturation dives, including 44 lockouts. Prior to this program, DDSs had been used only twice for marine research, although they are widely used for military and commercial diving. This paper discusses: the history of scientific diving from DDSs including the U.S. Navy/SIO program, and the application and potential of DDSs for ocean studies.