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Description
Photograph taken off Santa Cruz Island, California in 1949 is an image of Otis Barton inside the Benthoscope, talking with Dr. Maurice Nelles. Barton designed the Benthoscope, a 7,000 pound steel sphere, to be able to safely carry an observer as deep as 6,500 feet beneath the ocean. He had hoped to at least double the record of 3,028 feet set by Dr. William Beebe in 1934. The Benthoscope was tested and modified at Hancock College of Aeronautics in Santa Maria, and its record-breaking dive in 1949 was carried out in cooperation with the Allan Hancock Foundation's research vessel, Velero IV. Unfortunately, the lights failed at 4,500 feet, and Barton decided not to press on to his goal. The lessons learned from this dive led to the development of the Benthograph automated deep-sea camera.
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