participation of over 240 scientists, the use of eight submersibles for 

 more than 260 dives, and the use of three ocean-floor 

 habitat/laboratories, from which divers made over 740 excursions to 

 perform specific mission-oriented tasks. Over 80 percent of the 

 participants represented universities, industry, and federal agencies 

 other than NOAA. 



In the New York Bight, knowledge of the movement of bottom 

 sediments along the continental shelf is important to decisions on the 

 location of offshore dump sites. In the first phase of a two-phase 

 project, scientists making observations from the Perry Submersible 

 Corporation's PC-8 concluded that the nearshore bottom topography 

 was being altered by present-day currents and that the currents 

 would affect the movement of dumped pollutants. In phase two, 

 scientists using the Deepstar-2000 submersible in deep water found 

 that a proposed dumpsite had a greater population of fauna than had 

 been anticipated from surface sampling. Another effort, in the 

 Hudson Canyon off New York, employed the Alvin submersible at 

 depths down to 6,000 feet. The study concluded that the canyon 

 appears to serve as a "pipeline" for fine-grained sediment transport 

 from the continental shelf out to deeper depths. 



In the Florida Aquanaut Research Expedition (FLARE), a small, 

 transportable habitat, EDALHAB, was deployed from the Navy- 

 funded research vessel LuJu at four different locations off the 

 southeast coast of Florida. Divers conducted experiments that led 

 support to the concept that living coral reef communities can be used 

 as environmental indicators. This project was the first to use a 

 transportable habitat. 



The Southern California Borderlands project used the Deep Quest 

 submersible, in depths ranging from 2,700 to 6,700 feet, at a site 

 where ocean dumping had been permitted for over 25 years. 

 Inspection of a dumping site used for radioactive waste 11 years ago 

 showed radioactive waste containers still intact with no sign of 

 deterioration or leakage. Additionally, a potential ocean dumping 

 site in a deep canyon off San Diego was inspected to determine 

 sediment flow and waste dispersal. Tight canyon meanders were 

 found to limit flow processes. Studies of environmental conditions 

 and trends, as well as of the impact of ocean dumping on the coastal 

 area, are being planned for this region in the near»future. 



In a joint NOAA/National Science Foundation project conducted 

 off the coast of Belize, selected portions of a living reef structure 

 were blasted away to study the formation processes of reefs and 

 their correlation with the characteristics of ancient oil-bearing reefs. 



In December 1972, NOAA and the Navy participated in a joint US- 

 Canadian diving project using the SUBIGLOO underwater habitat 

 40 feet under the Arctic icepack of Resolute Bay, Canada, to evaluate 

 the performance capabilities of divers and their equipment in Arctic 

 waters. 



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