Sea Floor Series
As early as 1954, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and M.I.T. Professor Harold Edgerton had begun working together to develop the cameras and equipment necessary for photographing the bottom of the world’s oceans. Headway was made in 1959 with Edgerton’s Deepsea Camera Sled system. At a depth of 24,600 feet, photographs were successfully taken of the bottom of the Romanche Trench in the Atlantic. This accomplishment required the use of thousands of feet of cable. It was clear to Cousteau that true success lied in mobile, agile submarines.
By early 1960 Cousteau was already testing his new submarine, the Diving Saucer. This two man submarine would become a vital part of all of his future explorations. Very few of his documentaries would see this vessel parked on board his flagship Calypso. This same little Diving Saucer would also come to La Jolla to offer Scripts Institute scientists the first look at the La Jolla Canyon. Some of the most memorable tests for the Diving Saucer were done off the coast of France near the Spanish border in the Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon. These “samples” provide visual interpretations of tiny parts of the canyon’s vast floor.