Adventures Beneath the Sea: Living in an Underwater Science Station

What would it be like to live sixty feet below the ocean waves? Author Ken Mallory and photographer Brian Skerry found out. They spent a week in the Aquarius underwater laboratory on a coral reef off the Florida Keys. They lived in cramped quarters. They went scuba diving every day—to study the fish of the reef and to use the underwater outhouse. They slept in bunks with the constant crackle of snapping shrimp coming through the shell of their underwater home. Skerry's photographs from the pages of National Geographic Magazine capture the stunning sights of a strange undersea habitat in this winner of the John Burroughs Nature Books for Young Readers Award.

"There is only one permanent underwater laboratory for marine studies, the Aquarius reef base, a few miles off Key Largo and sixty-three feet below the surface. Mallory offers an engrossing, and sometimes humorous, account of his week spent in Aquarius, joining a team that's investigating sea life in the Conch Reef."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Most children know what an astronaut is, but an aquanaut? Not so common. . . . This book intrigues. (introduction, further reading, glossary, index)." --Kirkus Reviews

" This clearly written, personal account, illustrated with well-captioned, color photos, tells of the men's extensive training, their experience living in tight quarters underwater, the wildlife they observed from inside and outside Aquarius, and their pa

"A rather nifty look at scientists busily at work on interesting projects, all the while living like human hermit crabs in a shell-type lab." --School Library Journal

"Young people intrigued by marine biology will want to join Mallory and Skerry on this journey beneath the sea." --Booklist

Kenneth Mallory is the former Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Programs at Boston's New England Aquarium. He took part in two different Aquarius missions.

Brian Skerry is an award-winning photojournalist and an assignment photographer for National Geographic mazagine.