Reestablishing a national Man in the Sea Program

This paper discusses the considerations for reestablishing a routine manned presence in the ocean besides capturing the public´s interest in manned undersea exploration. Among these reasons cited are: (1) the collection of live specimens for research and educational purposes; (2) the missing capability of diving scientists to perform investigations and experiments where the animals live; (3) in order to approach the quality of excavation on land, archeological studies of underwater culturally significant sites must be accomplished on location by trained personnel; and, (4) open ocean aquaculture continues to move ahead in state waters and waters of the Federal Exclusive Economic Zone and divers are required to maintain these facilities.