This film is provided by Sandoz Wander and is of the series called ‘Science Screen Report’. Sandoz conducted research for materials which were to improve quality of living such as pharmaceuticals, colors and chemicals (1:04). This episode will take a look into new methods of ocean research in the late 70’s including FLARE and the marine habitat called EDALHAB. It is narrated by Peter Roberts (1:36) and made in cooperation with the National Science Teachers Association. Engineering Design and Analysis Laboratory Habitat (EDALHAB) was a horizontal cylinder 2.6 m high, 3.3 m long and weighing 14 tonnes was built by students of the Engineering Design and Analysis Laboratory in the US. From 26 April 1968, four students spent 48 hours and 6 minutes in this habitat in Alton Bay, New Hampshire. Two further missions followed to 12.2 m. In the 1972 Edalhab II Florida Aquanaut Research Expedition experiments, the University of New Hampshire and NOAA used nitrox as a breathing gas. In the three FLARE missions, the habitat was positioned off Miami at a depth of 13.7 m. The conversion to this experiment increased the weight of the habitat to 23 tons.

The film opens with an aquanaut research expedition which was taking place off the coast of Florida (2:12). Recently, NOA sponsored a study of coral reefs (2:21). To do so, aquanauts used a moored catamaran called Lulu (2:29) connected to cables which provide power to the three-person mobile habitat 45 feet below called EDALHAB (2:38). University of Massachusetts students used a steel hull retrieved from the government initially to build a crude underwater shelter (2:46). The government later gave NOA a grant to build EDALHAB (2:55). This is a small open bottom vessel about the size of a small SUV (3:15) that could house two to three inhabitants. It was mobile and easily moved from research site to research site (3:37). Study on the reefs included investigations of a variety of life such as a polyp colony forming brain coral (4:25) as well as gorgonian coral (4:40). Oceanographers took photos of selected specimen (4:48). Gridlines were set out to assist divers collect samples and data (4:53). While conducting the research, oceanographers detected an unexplained disease in the reef fish (5:13). A team member on the surface communicates with the scientists below water discussing new findings (5:29). New and unusual plants are collected and are brought to the surface to be grown and studied for the first time (5:37). As there was no way to prepare food in EDALHAB, support teams sent hot and cold food down to the scientists (5:46). A rubber reef was set up with 500 rubber tires a few weeks prior to this research and marine biologists had already found it to be full of life (6:05). Findings from this study would be compared to natural reefs as well as reefs existing near drilling rigs (6:13). An underwater vacuum cleaner shoots bedrock upwards into the water as three marine geologists collect and study data for information on the past (6:29). Core samples from this mission were able to provide information on the seafloor dating back to the Ice Age (6:34) which showed the reef had been much closer to surface then. Dr. Morgan Wells and his wife; FLARE scientists, compared research from two reefs, one in relatively clean water and another in the path of the Miami sewage flow (6:50). They used plastic domes in order to seal off small areas (7:15) and were able to collect data on each of their overall health as well as relative self sufficiency (7:30). A pyrheliometer was used to measure the amount of sunlight hitting the reefs as it is their energy source (7:49). The uncontaminated reef showed high amounts of sunlight though it was found that large parts of the Miami reef was dead (7:56). The FLARE (Florida Aquanaut Research Expedition) scientists are then seen surfacing (8:19). As they had worked underwater for several days, their tissues were loaded with nitrogen which would bubble out causing ‘the bends,’ a decompression sickness that happens when divers surface too quickly (8:19). In order to prevent this, the pair heads to a decompression chamber which pumps in alternating fresh air and oxygen (8:41) and they are gradually reintroduced to surface pressure over a 24-hour period (9:05). The film concludes as these scientists were able to prove an underwater habitant is a valuable tool to further understand the ocean (9:35).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com