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National Geographic Adventures Master of the Abyss
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By the beginning of the |
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human explorers have navigated the |
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Yet one earthly realm remains |
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The deep. |
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Its crushing pressures kill all |
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who attempt to invade |
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Then, in 1930, an adventurous |
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undertake a daring voyage |
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to a place no living man |
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Success will make them |
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Failure will end in death. |
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Awaiting them-beckoning them- |
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This is the story of these first |
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Earth is an ocean planet. |
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Water covers over seventy percent |
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Yet at the beginning of |
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almost nothing is known about |
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Then, in 1925, |
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a charismatic explorer and scientist |
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His name is William Beebe. |
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And his quest begins with a shallow |
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At 48, Beebe has spent his life |
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bringing tales of jungle adventures |
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Now he is re-born into a new world. |
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"As I peered down I realized that |
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almost as unknown as |
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William Beebe believes that |
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is to explore it himself. |
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To date, few other scientists |
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and witnessed its wonders. |
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Modern oceanographic knowledge |
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is comparable to the information of |
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who has trapped a small collection |
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but is still wholly unaware of |
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Beebe is tantalized by the unknown |
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and the unseen creatures |
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Beebe is already |
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He was the 25-year old prodigy |
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at the Bronx Zoo, today's |
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He is a gifted writer, |
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popularizing scientific observation |
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with a healthy dose of |
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His friends include former |
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In what is believed to be his |
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Roosevelt praises Beebe's work. |
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At age forty, he turns his attention |
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and volunteers as a pilot, |
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When the war is over, William Beebe |
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and in 1925, sets out on the ocean |
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Beebe's ship is Arcturus, donated to |
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A tireless promoter, Beebe knows |
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Several Manhattan millionaires |
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Beebe steers Arcturus for |
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in search of the teeming aquatic life |
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amidst the rafts of floating |
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His team of fifteen scientists labor |
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gathering fish and ocean animals, |
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recording and cataloging |
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and preserving specimens for more |
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For 25 years, |
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Now, he opens his eyes to |
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But does life exist |
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And if so, is it different? |
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Arcturus is specially equipped to |
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Beebe orders nets to be sent down |
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They return with hundreds |
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most are dead, many are alive, |
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and most importantly, many species |
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Beebe is astounded. |
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"When we realize the possibilities of |
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every haul of the dredge should be |
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equaled only by the possible hope of |
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Beebe longs to know about life in this |
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How do creatures thrive in an |
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Beebe wants to see this alien |
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Ocean life becomes Beebe's obsession. |
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He makes hundreds of descents, |
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and his body-to its maximum depth. |
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At just over sixty feet, |
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Even obsession can take him no deeper. |
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Below him are chasms deeper than |
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Barely beneath the surface, |
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To dive much deeper is foolish, |
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"I made my way to a steep precipice, |
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and looked down, |
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It would have been exceedingly unwise |
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At double the depth I had reached |
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I would probably become insensible |
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Ocean pressure can crush |
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at just three hundred feet. |
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Even submarines in Beebe's day can |
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Beebe is determined to descend |
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and just as determined |
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He needs radical new technology. |
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Beebe's well-publicized shallow dives |
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the brave explorer |
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is the Jacques Cousteau of |
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Back at the Bronx Zoo, Beebe sets |
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for two years, he draws up plan after |
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He abandons them all as impractical. |
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In 1928, Beebe decides to move to |
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His choice is Bermuda. |
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The Bermuda government donates |
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on the outlying Island of Nonsuch. |
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Beebe knows that Bermuda |
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is the perfect base for exploration |
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one of the few places in the world |
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where the sea floor plummets more |
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Attracted by the new science |
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and by the dynamism of |
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the lab at Nonsuch draws young, |
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John Tee-Van, a New Yorker, |
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has been Beebe's assistant |
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Teevan is Beebe's personal planner- |
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harness for Beebe's |
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Twenty-seven year old New Yorker |
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Hollister is typical of the young, |
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The research team works long hours |
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but Bermuda life is comfortable, |
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and the climate ideal for |
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Beebe's boundless energy inspires |
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Gloria Hollister experiments |
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continuing research in the shallows, |
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following Beebe's footsteps down |
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But William Beebe cannot shed |
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just off shore-filled with creatures |
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He is three years into his quest, |
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and he still has no idea |
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The answer will come |
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His name is Otis Barton. |
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Barton is 29, the high-spirited heir |
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He has read about William Beebe's |
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and he has the money |
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He offers to finance the design |
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that can be lowered to at least |
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on one condition: |
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1929, In a New Jersey machine shop, |
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Barton's hopes and dreams |
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for the world's first working deep- |
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It is a hollow sphere of |
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Its strength lies in its round design- |
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withstanding the relentless ocean |
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No glass is strong enough |
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Barton orders panes of fused quartz, |
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These tiny windows might allow man's |
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but they too, |
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The factory work |
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Beebe is within reach of his dream. |
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Word comes from New York. |
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For Otis Barton, |
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the price tag of 12,000 dollars proves |
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In May, 1930, |
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He has come with the vessel that, |
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will transport two men to the |
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making history, and changing science. |
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On the docks of Bermuda, |
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William Beebe inspects |
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He calls the invention a bathysphere- |
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Barton's plan is simple. |
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The bathysphere will descend on |
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The hatch is just 14 inches wide, |
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sealed from the outside with |
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The bathysphere is |
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but it is Beebe's best and only |
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June 3, 1930. The journey |
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Beebe and Barton hire a retired |
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to serve as mother ship |
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The Ready isn't ready for much. |
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The tired old hulk must be towed to |
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so Beebe can make his first descent. |
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Beebe cannibalizes the winch from |
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and bolts it to the Ready's deck. |
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It will have to support |
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two-and-a-half ton weight, |
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If the cable snaps or snags, |
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will plummet to the ocean floor, |
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Beebe chooses a place a few miles |
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where waters are a mile |
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The Ready is halted. |
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First-an unmanned test-to see if |
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As the power winch lets out |
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an additional rubber-coated electric |
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This line will allow them to use |
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and more importantly, to communicate |
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In just forty minutes the steel ball |
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The simple test ends in disaster. |
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The vital electrical conduit |
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around the top of the capsule |
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Beebe fears that his adventure may |
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It looked as if we were to pay penalty |
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for daring to attempt to delve into |
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Beebe has learned his first lesson |
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Every attention must be paid |
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The ocean is not forgiving-the |
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It takes a full day |
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No damage is found. |
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Three days later, on June 6, |
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Beebe tries another unmanned test. |
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This time, the cables do not tangle. |
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But upon inspection, |
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Beebe and Barton discover a small |
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All things considered, |
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He'll risk his life-and Barton's- |
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Beebe and Barton outfit the capsule |
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with oxygen tanks and |
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soda lime for clearing |
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and calcium chloride |
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Beebe hasn't forgotten |
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he will concentrate solely |
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dive one is not for science, |
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At the moment Beebe has waited |
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he finds himself at a loss for words. |
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"I looked around at the sea and sky, |
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and not being able to think of |
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which might echo down the ages, |
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I said nothing, crawled painfully |
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fell inside and curled up on the cold, |
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On deck, John Teevan supervises |
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He has served William Beebe |
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Now Beebe's life is in his hands. |
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Beebe and Barton are big men- |
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crammed into a sphere less than |
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Heavy hammers pound steel bolts tight, |
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a deafening experience |
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Gloria Hollister will communicate |
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the first to record his observations, |
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or to hear his final words |
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The final bolt. |
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On deck, the team is tense, |
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hoping for the best, |
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Nothing has been left to chance, |
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yet no one has ever attempted |
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At one PM, on June 6, 1930, |
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the bathysphere is swung |
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In less than a minute, |
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they are sixty feet down, the range |
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They are suspended by |
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with a mile and a half of |
| 00:24:11 |
and no hope of rescue |
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150 feet. |
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200, 250. |
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Barton closely monitors |
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Too little, and they will |
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Too much, and they can |
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At 600 feet, Beebe speaks from |
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"Only dead men have sunk below this." |
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Beyond the tiny windows, |
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the two ocean pioneers |
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"We were the first living men to look |
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an indefinable translucent blue." |
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Then, at 800 feet, |
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with all going well, |
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His instincts tell him, stop. |
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"Some hunch-some mental warning |
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which I have had at half a dozen |
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spelled bottom for this trip." |
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At this depth, Beebe knows that |
| 00:25:51 |
in a way much more terrifying |
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"There was no possible chance |
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for the first few drops |
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through flesh and bone |
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He orders Teevan to haul them home. |
| 00:26:15 |
Two strangers in a strange device |
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have dived deeper than |
| 00:26:43 |
Consumed by the operation of |
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Beebe has paid little attention to |
| 00:26:54 |
but he has proven that humans can |
| 00:27:15 |
His team greets him with |
| 00:27:23 |
William Beebe and Otis Barton |
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deeper - not just for adventure, |
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Their journey has only begun. |
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The unlikely partnership of William |
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an entirely new field of science- |
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They know they can get there- |
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Now the real work of scientific |
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On June 11, 1930, they are lowered |
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more than three thousand tons of |
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assaults the steel hull, |
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and offers Beebe and Barton |
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a first look at the creatures of |
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Beyond the windows, |
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the strange animals that had perished |
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now move majestically |
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"When I came again to examine |
| 00:29:22 |
I would feel as an astronomer might |
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after having rocketed to Mars and back, |
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who could suddenly annihilate time |
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The animals Beebe describes, such as |
| 00:29:41 |
yet they are superbly adapted to the |
| 00:29:48 |
It is a scientific revelation |
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Each square inch of the quartz windows |
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- stresses that no submarine or |
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They reach a depth of 1426 feet- |
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On June 13, 1930, in a telegram |
| 00:30:18 |
the scientist and the inventor |
| 00:30:21 |
they have joined the ranks of |
| 00:30:27 |
Armed with confidence in the |
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Beebe permits John Tee-Van and Gloria |
| 00:30:34 |
Hollister sets a new depth record |
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In the weeks to come, the bathysphere |
| 00:30:44 |
testing its capabilities. |
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The impressionable Barton, |
| 00:30:55 |
grants William Beebe ownership |
| 00:30:58 |
on the condition that he be |
| 00:31:07 |
In October, the coming winter |
| 00:31:12 |
The bathysphere is put in storage. |
| 00:31:14 |
It is time for Beebe to return to the |
| 00:31:28 |
But Beebe knows that |
| 00:31:30 |
is not the way to keep the public |
| 00:31:37 |
In newspaper interviews, |
| 00:31:41 |
William Beebe promotes oceanography |
| 00:31:47 |
He likens his dives to visiting outer |
| 00:31:55 |
Beebe enlists an artist, |
| 00:31:58 |
to illustrate the haunting images of |
| 00:32:08 |
Bizarre marine animals |
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no one but William Beebe |
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Beebe joins the ranks of the |
| 00:32:37 |
household names such as |
| 00:32:40 |
heroes of the skies. |
| 00:32:42 |
Beebe believes his ocean exploration |
| 00:32:48 |
The concrete intellectual returns |
| 00:32:53 |
but adventuring under sea |
| 00:32:57 |
and we are actually entering |
| 00:33:13 |
In the press, |
| 00:33:16 |
The man who built it-and paid for it- |
| 00:33:20 |
Barton is stung. |
| 00:33:34 |
In Spring, 1931, despite the |
| 00:33:38 |
the resourceful Beebe |
| 00:33:41 |
for a scaled-down year of |
| 00:34:22 |
He returns to methods perfected on |
| 00:34:26 |
deep-ocean dragging with nets. |
| 00:34:39 |
As before, specimens are retrieved- |
| 00:34:41 |
creatures Beebe has seen alive |
| 00:34:47 |
Nonsuch Island hums with activity. |
| 00:34:50 |
But the bathysphere |
| 00:34:53 |
while Beebe writes another book |
| 00:35:07 |
The year passes into another. |
| 00:35:09 |
Then, Beebe makes a decision |
| 00:35:27 |
He and Otis Barton will attempt to |
| 00:35:32 |
and his communication |
| 00:35:34 |
will be broadcast live on NBC Radio |
| 00:35:37 |
and on affiliate stations |
| 00:35:50 |
Beebe is determined that |
| 00:35:53 |
not to go down in history as a stunt. |
| 00:35:55 |
He must go back, and deeper, seeking a |
| 00:36:00 |
even if it means risking his own life. |
| 00:36:23 |
September, 1932. Storms lash Bermuda. |
| 00:36:27 |
A bad omen for events to come. |
| 00:36:32 |
Otis Barton decides to install a new |
| 00:36:36 |
to permit better photography, |
| 00:36:39 |
any modification to the quartz ports |
| 00:36:45 |
The decrepit barge, Ready has been |
| 00:36:49 |
But the new mother-ship leaks and |
| 00:36:52 |
and on one occasion almost sinks. |
| 00:37:06 |
Waiting for weather to clear, |
| 00:37:08 |
they make an unmanned test |
| 00:37:10 |
sending it down to 3000 feet. |
| 00:37:16 |
But the bathysphere is unusually heavy, |
| 00:37:29 |
When the capsule surfaces, |
| 00:37:30 |
it is filled with an explosive cocktail |
| 00:37:58 |
Anyone in the bolt's path would |
| 00:38:01 |
Anyone inside would have been |
| 00:38:09 |
It is a sober reminder of the brutal |
| 00:38:30 |
For two weeks, Atlantic storms ground |
| 00:38:40 |
Beebe and Barton remove the |
| 00:38:44 |
and fit the hole with |
| 00:38:48 |
For the journalists Beebe has invited |
| 00:38:52 |
there's nothing to report. |
| 00:39:06 |
On September 22, Beebe decides |
| 00:39:12 |
He will risk his life, |
| 00:39:14 |
on a perilous dive. |
| 00:39:31 |
These are the worst conditions in which |
| 00:39:37 |
Again, Beebe and Barton endure the |
| 00:39:42 |
squeeze through the narrow hatchway, |
| 00:39:44 |
and tumble onto the capsule's |
| 00:39:50 |
Beebe has set a goal of half a mile- |
| 00:39:53 |
almost twice as deep |
| 00:39:56 |
He is willing to dive dangerously deep |
| 00:40:00 |
the discovery of new forms of life, |
| 00:40:19 |
Beebe and Barton pass 1400 feet, |
| 00:40:21 |
shattering their previous record, |
| 00:40:41 |
At 1700 feet, they are enveloped in |
| 00:40:46 |
Beebe has reached a realm |
| 00:40:50 |
"I was beyond sunlight as far as |
| 00:40:53 |
and from here down, |
| 00:40:57 |
there had been no day or night, |
| 00:40:59 |
no summer or winter, no passing of |
| 00:41:08 |
He is rewarded for the risk |
| 00:41:11 |
At 2200 feet, thousands of pinpoints |
| 00:41:20 |
Strange creatures, thriving |
| 00:41:24 |
Beebe witnesses these amazing animals |
| 00:41:36 |
The number of creatures illumined, |
| 00:41:38 |
and the strength and color |
| 00:41:40 |
all these have been far beyond |
| 00:41:54 |
He broadcasts his fantastic discovery |
| 00:41:58 |
The world listens to this first-hand |
| 00:42:11 |
But on the surface, |
| 00:42:14 |
threatening to sever |
| 00:42:18 |
Beebe calls off the dive, |
| 00:42:25 |
On the return to the surface, |
| 00:42:27 |
Beebe announces the most |
| 00:42:30 |
a 6-foot-long predator with vicious, |
| 00:42:34 |
he names it the |
| 00:42:40 |
Beebe's sighting remains, |
| 00:42:59 |
In a lifetime of well-publicized |
| 00:43:02 |
this is Beebe's finest hour. |
| 00:43:04 |
He has broken his own depth record- |
| 00:43:06 |
described creatures never seen before- |
| 00:43:09 |
and broadcast the entire event |
| 00:43:17 |
The achievement and William Beebe |
| 00:43:22 |
a triumph Beebe hopes will translate |
| 00:43:34 |
At the age of 55, Beebe's energy |
| 00:43:38 |
and his ambition unfettered. |
| 00:43:42 |
He decides to make one more expedition |
| 00:43:44 |
to smash the half-mile barrier |
| 00:43:50 |
But the Great Depression has made |
| 00:43:54 |
Beebe works for over a year, |
| 00:43:57 |
Finally, the National Geographic |
| 00:44:00 |
to finance a series of dives |
| 00:44:06 |
Otis Barton has not been as fortunate. |
| 00:44:08 |
A victim of hard times, |
| 00:44:10 |
he is scrambling to make a living |
| 00:44:14 |
Barton launches a career |
| 00:44:17 |
and spends 1933 filming |
| 00:44:28 |
The film is a flop. |
| 00:44:47 |
But William Beebe has not forgotten |
| 00:44:49 |
who has helped make him |
| 00:44:52 |
In 1934, he remembers his pledge to |
| 00:44:57 |
and invites Barton to join him. |
| 00:45:04 |
For four years, |
| 00:45:05 |
Barton has slipped into the shadows |
| 00:45:09 |
Despite his grievances, Barton agrees |
| 00:45:18 |
John Tee-Van and Gloria Hollister |
| 00:45:20 |
for what is to be the bathysphere's |
| 00:45:37 |
After countless hours |
| 00:45:40 |
the capsule needs an costly overhaul. |
| 00:45:43 |
The price tag includes |
| 00:45:45 |
a new oxygen purifier, and improved |
| 00:46:02 |
On August 7, 1934, an unmanned test |
| 00:46:08 |
The refitted capsule |
| 00:46:15 |
Satisfied, Beebe and Barton squirm |
| 00:46:19 |
While Beebe's personal goal is |
| 00:46:23 |
he will continues to relay |
| 00:46:25 |
convinced that the deeper he goes |
| 00:46:39 |
And Beebe delivers. |
| 00:46:41 |
He announces his discovery of |
| 00:46:44 |
and gives them fanciful names. |
| 00:46:49 |
Pallid Sailfin |
| 00:46:52 |
Three-Starred Anglerfish |
| 00:46:56 |
Five Lined-Constellation Fish |
| 00:46:59 |
And once again, |
| 00:47:13 |
Barton attempts to document |
| 00:47:16 |
but his movie film shows only faint, |
| 00:47:19 |
Only Beebe's descriptions endure. |
| 00:47:27 |
The dive drops Beebe and Barton |
| 00:47:32 |
shattering all old records, |
| 00:47:52 |
Then, eight days later on August 15, |
| 00:47:55 |
Beebe pushes the ball |
| 00:47:58 |
It comes to a rest at a depth of |
| 00:48:03 |
The spool of cable has nearly run out. |
| 00:48:07 |
One more revolution could send |
| 00:48:09 |
in an unstoppable death plunge |
| 00:48:20 |
At this depth, the bathysphere's steel |
| 00:48:22 |
withstands more than a thousand |
| 00:48:28 |
Steel and quartz hold firm. |
| 00:48:39 |
William Beebe and Otis Barton |
| 00:48:42 |
no explorer before them has ever |
| 00:49:17 |
"The only other place comparable to |
| 00:49:21 |
must surely be naked space itself, |
| 00:49:27 |
must really be closely akin to |
| 00:49:30 |
as it appears to the eyes of |
| 00:49:34 |
in the open ocean, |
| 00:49:46 |
Even after his record-breaking |
| 00:49:48 |
William Beebe remains obsessed |
| 00:49:51 |
But by the mid-30s the Depression |
| 00:49:55 |
and privately funded exploration |
| 00:50:06 |
Beebe must abandon his Bermuda |
| 00:50:19 |
Beebe returns to jungle research |
| 00:50:21 |
for the Bronx Zoo, now known as |
| 00:50:25 |
He spends the last years of his life |
| 00:50:28 |
and never loses the love for action |
| 00:50:33 |
But his fame slips away as years pass, |
| 00:50:36 |
and Beebe dies quietly, far from |
| 00:50:46 |
Otis Barton leaps from one scheme |
| 00:50:49 |
In 1948, he returns to the ocean |
| 00:50:54 |
and breaks his own record by |
| 00:50:59 |
But the world takes little notice- |
| 00:51:05 |
and five people attend his funeral. |
| 00:51:12 |
Barton's record endures until 1960, |
| 00:51:14 |
when the US Navy submersible Trieste |
| 00:51:19 |
more than six miles. |
| 00:51:21 |
That record stands. |
| 00:51:30 |
Today, most of Beebe's discoveries |
| 00:51:34 |
The risks he took opened up |
| 00:51:39 |
His gift to us is a new way of |
| 00:51:42 |
that thrives today as the modern |
| 00:51:46 |
In a crude copper helmet- |
| 00:51:50 |
William Beebe dared to challenge |
| 00:51:54 |
to search for life in a dark |
| 00:51:57 |
His legacy is one of adventure |
| 00:52:01 |
a pioneer and a wanderer |
