A new underwater habitat for scientific research has been anchored to the seabed in US waters about 4.5 miles off the Florida Keys, with a foundation designed to withstand the powerful water flows generated by a Category 5 hurricane. Known as Vanguard, the habitat was installed in June at Tennessee Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary by DEEP, an international ocean engineering and technology company with facilities in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Vanguard sits roughly 60 feet below the surface, close to but not within the reef. Its location near an undersea slope will also allow scientists to conduct research at greater depths, said Scott Olson, DEEP’s US program manager. It is the first underwater habitat in the region since the Aquarius Reef Base, which was initially installed near the US Virgin Islands in the 1980s before being relocated to the Florida Keys. Key DEEP staff members have lived and worked at Aquarius, bringing their expertise to Vanguard, Olson added.
