Ahoy ye landlubbers. Welcome back to the History
of Diving Museum, my name is Emily and I am
the Community Outreach Coordinator here. Today
we are inside the Arcturus. The Arcturus was
a vessel that the gentleman William Beebe
was sailing on for the New York Zoological
Society in the mid nineteen twenties. At the
time he was an ornithologist, which meant
he studied birds. But, in addition to studying
birds, he also brought along a Miller-Dunn
Divinhood two, which is in the crate behind
me right here. And here is a photo of Mr.
Beebe wearing said helmet. Now, he ended up
going and exploring under the sea and got
interested in what fish and other sea creatures
were doing in their natural habitats. Prior
to his interest in this, nobody had really
spent quality time studying these creatures.
This fascination would lead him to becoming
the father of modern marine biology, as he
is frequently considered today. But it also
made him want to go to greater depths. So
about a decade later, he teamed up with a
gentleman named Otis Barton to develop and
create the Bathysphere. Now the Bathysphere
is a four foot wide, iron ball, with a few
windows on it, that they were able to climb
into and that they then were lowered down
into the abyss to see what creatures lurked
there. Now this image to my right, whoa oh
ho, steady as we go captain, it's a little
rocky here. This image to the right is a depiction
of Beebe looking out a porthole window into
the abyss at the terrifying creatures. Interestingly
enough though, this is not an accurate depiction
of the Bathysphere. In the next couple days
I will be sharing some posts about what the
Bathysphere actually looks like and how it
worked. Now, while they were down there in
the abyss, which was the first time anyone
had done so, they had air being supplied down
to them and they had a telephone line that
went up to the top so they could communicate
with the surface. And that communication was
then broadcasted on live radio, so people
all around the country could actually hear
what they were seeing. It was pretty cool
stuff. Not only was William Beebe an adventurer,
he was also a mentor. He trained and helped
new up and coming marine biologists in the
field, such as Rachel Carson, who ended up
writing Silent Spring later on. Pretty neat
stuff we've got here at the Diving Museum.
But, I'm being summoned above deck, so I will
see you guys, stay safe out there, and wash
your hands, and have fun learning. See ya
next time!
