While you're enjoying your coffee this morning, half a dozen
scientists are already at work. They're not sitting at desks,
however, but a few miles off the Florida Keys, 60 feet down on
the ocean bottom. The researchers are living and working this
week at Aquarius Reef Base, the world's last undersea research
laboratory. The 25-year-old facility, built by the federal
government, has hosted everyone from marine biologists studying
endangered coral reefs to NASA astronauts training for
weightless missions in space. But the Aquarius Reef Base itself
is now endangered. Among marine researchers, there are few
people more distinguished or respected than Sylvia Earle. Former
chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and now explorer-in-residence at National
Geographic, she's no stranger to what are called "saturation
dives." Those are dives where people spend days, or even weeks,
underwater. This dive, Earle says, marks an important scientific
anniversary. It's been 50 years since satur