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The Way It Was

Circa 1966, two swimmers flank the pilot guiding the original DSV Alvin into its docking space in Lulu, the sub’s first tender ship. After its recent extensive overhaul and upgrade and its 50th anniversary year, Alvin continues to be a uniquely valuable resource in the U.S., carrying ocean scientists as deep as 4,500 meters, or about two-thirds of the ocean floor. Recent Alvin dives, from its current tender R/V Atlantis, were to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to find particular volcanic rocks, on the “Popping Rocks” expedition.(Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)