Time To Go Under: The History of Diving and Submersibles

Diver Using SCUBA

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People have always been intrigued by the stunning sites just below and up to a few hundred feet under the ocean's surface. In fact, historians note human diving records throughout recorded human history.

As you learned in this topic, simple devices like the diving bell, diving helmet, pure oxygen re-breather, and steel bathysphere all helped early explorers peer beneath the waves for short periods.

Over time, oceanographers developed a large variety of safe, reliable technologies to take them below the surface for longer periods. Some of these technologies included SCUBA and high tech submersibles. When conditions are too dangerous for humans, today's oceanographers count on ROVs and AUVs to be their eyes and ears.