The original Bathysphere is now at the New York Aquarium at Coney Island. This photograph I took at the National Geographic Society in Washington. This is a fibreglass model of the original. The word bathysphere, referring to a spherical deep sea submersible, comes from the Greek word bathos meaning depth and sphaira meaning sphere (reference).
The original Bathysphere was built by two adventurous explorers named William Beebe and Otis Barton with support from the New York Zoological Society and the National Geographic Society. For the first time in 1932, Beebe and Barton descended 2,200 feet under the ocean in the Bathysphere off the coast of Bermuda. This was deeper than any Naval submarine had ever explored. In 1934 they successfully descended to 3,027 feet. The explorers were able to describe the mysterious and wonderful underwater world to the public for the first time, as they peered through the quartz windows of their craft. To read more about Beebe's and Barton's daring underwater adventures, click here.
1 comment:
I think we were taking pictures of the same things!
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