How A Rural Appalachian Doctor Pioneered Deep-Sea Diving

By Amanda Magnus,

Frank Stasio

Published February 5, 2019 at 12:13 PM EST

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Left to right: Aquanauts Sanders Manning, Lester Anderson, Bob Barth, and Robert Thompson, 1964.

Courtesy of The Man In The Sea Museum

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George Bond assists Bob Barth from the entrance way to the Genesis E chamber, 1963.

Courtesy of the United States Navy/Ben Hellwarth

George Bond and Walter Mazzone inspect the outside of a chamber.

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George Bond and Walter Mazzone inspect compression chamber, 1963.

Courtesy of the United States Navy/Ben Hellwarth

A new documentary film on PBS shares the forgotten story of a U.S Navy project that revolutionized deep-sea diving. The Sealab program aimed to create a future where humans could live on the bottom of the ocean. North Carolinian Dr. George Bond pioneered the program.

He was a rural doctor from Appalachia who fell in love with diving during his time in the Navy. He started experiments with animals and then humans, and tested their capacity to dive deeper and stay underwater longer than ever before.

His work led to the experimental Sealab program, where divers known as “aquanauts” would spend days or even weeks on the ocean floor. The program was quietly ended after a deadly tragedy.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Ben Hellwarth about Dr. Bond and the Sealab program. Hellwarth authored the book “Sealab: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor” (Simon and Schuster/2012). The documentary “Sealab” premieres on American Experience on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 9 p.m.