SATURATION DIVING: 
PIONEERED THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSEA HABITATS, EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES 
TO LIVE AND WORK ON THE OCEAN FLOOR. 

Living and Working in the Sea, Koblick, Ian & Jim Miller.  2nd edition, 1995. 

NOAA/U.S. Department of Commerce.  Study of the cost-effectiveness of saturation diving (1973). 

NOAA/U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Manned Undersea Science and Technology. Provided facilities and carried out N2O2 saturation dives with deep excursion air diving (1974). 

Puerto Rico Undersea Research and Development Company. Construction and operation of the La Chalupa underwater habitat (1972-76). 

Earth Resources Application Institute Westinghouse Corp. Designed diving and life support systems for National Underwater Laboratory Systems program (1977). 

Resulting Publications 
"An Analysis of Saturation Diving by Scientists" Olsen, D.A., Marine Technology Society Journal, Vol. 11, No. 5, June 1976. 

"Cost-effectiveness of Saturation Diving as a Scientific Data Acquisition Tool" PRINUL Special Report No. 5, 1973. 

"Down Deeper on Air" Koblick, I.G., Sea Technology Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 7, July 1975. 

"A Study of Puerto Rico Coral Reef Systems" Olsen, D.A. and Sheen,  M.O., Hydro-Lab Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1975. 

MARINE CONSERVATION:
HELPED PLAN AND IMPLEMENT MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION OF MARINE RESOURCES FOR THE GOVERNMENTS OF PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.  ASSISTED CITY OF FT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA.  HOSTED WORKSHOP ON CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT IN KEY LARGO, FLORIDA.

Puerto Rico Industrial Development Agency. Consulting on tanker superport and review of final project plan  (1973). 

Puerto Rico Department of Public Works. Study of sand transport and determination of conditions of Puerto Rico reef system for sand harvesting operations (1973). 

Puerto Rico Water Resources Agency. Two-week saturation dive to provide information on a nuclear power plant site. 
Inspection of 10 miles of electrical cable from Puerto Rico to the island of Vieques. Inspection in 100 feet of water of 15 miles of electrical cable between Culebra and Vieques (1974). 

Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources. Study of reefs and provider of support and equipment for the department's marine program  (1974). 

Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico. Development of the Ocean Resources Development Agency, a island-wide ocean resource  development plan (1978). 

Port Everglades Authority, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Environmental consultation on the dredging of Port Everglades harbor (1979). 

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Coral Reef Management Workshop (1988). 

Resulting Publications 

"Benthic Algal Ecology in a Deep Reef and Sand Habitat Off Puerto Rico".  Dahl, A.L., Journal of Marine Botany (1973). 
. 
"Cleaning Symbiosis in Puerto Rico with Comparison to the Tropical Pacific". Losey, G., Copiea (1973). 

"Siltation Experiments in Corals, in Situ". Kolehmainen, S. Science (1974). 

"Oxygen Balance of Tropical Benthic Communities".  Wells, J.M. and Olsen, D.A., Proc., Xth. Mtg. Associated Island Marine Biology Lab of the Caribbean (1973). 

"Undersea Labs for Marine Resources Inventory".  Koblick, I.G., Biaggi, J.V., Olsen, D.A., and Geiger, E.M., Marine Technology Society Journal. Vol. 8, No. 1, 1974. 

“Results of a Workshop on Coral Reef Research and Management in the Florida Keys: A Blueprint for Action”.  Miller, J. Editor. National Undersea Research Program Research Report 88-5 (1988)

DIVING MEDICINE & LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS:
FACILITATED RESEARCH AND HELPED ESTABLISH MEDICAL EXPERTISE FOR MAN IN SEA PROGRAMS 

Puerto Rico Department of Health. Develop and carry out a training program in hyperbaric medicine and decompression chamber operation.  Develop a plan for a portable hyperbaric facility for Puerto Rico (1974). 

Duke University/Aquanautics. 
Use of underwater habitat providing temperature, pressure and proximity controls to test filtration device for artificial gills 
(1984). 

Internally Funded. Develop efficient scrubber for semi-closed breathing system for saturation diving (1976). 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
Doppler study on human subjects living in saturation (1989-1991). 

PUBLICATIONS

“Human Dose-response relationship for decompression and endogenous bubble formation”. Eckenhoff, R.G.,Olstad C.S., Carrod G.E.. Journal of Applied Physioology, 1990.  “Ethanol and venous bubbles after decompression in humans”. Eckenhoff R.G., Olstad C.S.. Undersea Biomedical Research, 1991.  “Susceptibility of divers in open water to motion sickness”. Norfleet W.T., Peterson R.E., Hamilton R.W., Olstad C.S..  Undersea Biomedical Research, 1992.  “Venous gas emboli in humans after prolonged exposure to 1.48 ATA (16 fswg) air”.  Eckenhoff R.G., Olstad C.S., Carrod G.E.. Undersea Biomedical Research, 1989.  “Gender effect on venous bubble formation after decompression from prolonged 16 fswg exposures”. Eckenhoff R.G., Olstad C.S.. Undersea Biomedical Research, 1990.  Seawater exchange systems to provide life support in manned undersea habitats.  Olstad C.S..  MRDF Internal Report, September 1992. “The efficacies of common antibiotics administered at 1.62 ATA to two escherichia coli variants”. Kuske S.G..  Sioux Falls University, Hyperbaric Studies Sect - Marine Microbiology, report.  May 1991

“Time for saturation in humans as defined by venous gas bubbles”. Eckenhoff R.G., Olstad C.S..  Undersea Biomedical Research, 1991.  “Effect on vital capacity of saturation in a normoxic hyperbaric environment”.  Peterson R.E., Hamilton R.W., Olstad C.S..  Undersea Biomedical Research, 1993.  “Spurious increase in vital capacity by lung ‘packing’”.  Hamilton R.W., Olstad C.S., Peterson R.E..  Undersea Biomedical Research,  1993.  “Antibiotic sensitivity testing at hyperbaric conditions (1.62 ATA)”. Bacon J.J., Iverson D.A., Wortham G.M.. Sioux Falls University. Presented at 1993 National Academy of Sciences Meeting.  “Effect on vital capacity of saturation in a normoxic hyperbaric environment”.  Peterson R.E., Hamilton R.W., Olstad C.S., Feingold J.A..  Report under NOAA Contract NA88AA-D-UR063.  May 1991.   “The changing population distribution of coliform, pseudomonal, and staphylococcal species inhabiting the external auditory canal, as they respond to hyperbaric incubation periods between frequent marine diving exposures”. Tieszen K.K..  Sioux Falls University,  Hyperbaric Studies Sect - Marine Microbiology, report.  May 1991.

MRDF’S WORK IN FISHERIES RESEARCH AND AQUACULTURE PROVIDED VALUABLE DATA 
FOR ONGOING PROJECTS 

NOAA Sea Grant Office. Study of lobsters as a food source in the Virgin Islands (1970). 

Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture. Fisheries research program utilizing an undersea laboratory (1974). 

Internally funded. Exploratory long line swordfish fishing project yielding new fishing resources for Puerto Rico (1978).

Development of Gracilaria species (marine algae) for human consumption.  The resulting product was sold to South Florida retailers and  Disney’s Living Seas restaurant at Epcot Center as Sea Sprouts (1986). 

Resulting Publications: 
"Population Dynamics, Ecology, and Behavior of Spiny Lobsters of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands"   Olsen, D.A., Herrnkind, W.A. and Cooper, R.A. Bulletin of Southern California Academic Sciences (1972). 

"Growth and Mortality of Spiny Lobsters of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands" Olsen, D.A., Herrnkind, W.A., and Koblick, I.G. , PRINUL Special Report (1972). 

NASA OCEAN Project (hydroponics).  Chamberland, D.  John F. Kennedy Space Center Office of Biological Research and Life Support, report.  May 1994. 

TEACHER TRAINING

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Presented a series of eight 14-day Marine Ecology & Technology Workshops to 500 middle and high school science teachers from around the nation.  These teachers were selected from over 1500 applicants, from American Samoa to Alaska and from Maine to the US Virgin Islands.  (1989, 1990, and 1991). 

Florida Advisory Council on Environmental Education. Organized and presented a 14-day workshop on Marine Ecology & Technology for 69  middle and high school science teachers from Florida (1990). 

South Florida Water Management District. Hosted and provided boats for the Freshwater at the Land’s End” water resources workshops from 1992 until 1999.  The workshops, designed for Broward and Dade teachers, involve the hydrology of the Everglades system and South Florida’s water supply. 

Palm Beach County School Board (FL). Organized and presented a teacher inservice workshop on seagrass, mangrove, and coral reef ecology (1989). 

Broward County School Board (FL). Organized and presented inservice to Broward County teachers on seagrass, mangrove, and coral reef ecology (1986-87). 

TECHNOLOGY

PIONEERED THE USE OF SATELLITES FOR OCEAN MONITORING, ESTABLISHING A VITAL LINK BETWEEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND OCEAN RESEARCH. 

NASA/Grumann Ecosystems Corp. Test/evaluation of the use of ERTS A satellites for monitoring water quality and fish migration. 

DEVELOPED THE TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROLLED EXTRACTION OF CALCIUM CARBONATE FROM SEAWATER FOR “MARINE ACCRETION PROJECTS” 

Chris Scala, artist: Accretion of several sculptures in the MRDF lagoon using this technique.  These sculptures include: a statue of a woman, “Thanks”, subsequently used in a fountain (1989); a sculpture called “Exploding Sphere”, which was displayed at the 1994 World Cup; and a statue named “Ascending Swimmer”, a larger-than-life female figure (1996). 

Michele Oka Doner, artist: Accretion of two obelisks which were then placed in a park in Santa Monica, CA. (1992). 

Kress Foundation: Experimental use of this technique to strengthen the submerged foundations of buildings in Venice, Italy (1991) 
 

Resulting Publications 

“The Venice Accretion Project”, Michele Oka Doner.  A Kress Foundation Publication (1991).