A new exhibit titled Working Underwater is now open at Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH, giving visitors a glimpse into the challenging world of undersea exploration and engineering.
The Working Underwater exhibit, located adjacent to the Center’s Gulf of Maine Hall, covers historic milestones in diving’s technological development, from ancient free divers to today’s atmospheric dive suits. Tools of the commercial diving trade are on display, as well as artifacts collected by divers in the Piscataqua River during the construction of the new Sarah Long bridge. The Center’s vintage Mark V dive helmet is back on display in a new setting that allows visitors to try it on for a fun photo opportunity.
This exhibit is sponsored by Black Dog Divers, a commercial diving firm based in Portsmouth NH, in honor of Billy Juse and Timothy Nordeen, the two employees who lost their lives on the Deer Island Project (the final phase of the major Boston Harbor cleanup). This tragic event was widely publicized and is the subject of the book “Trapped Under the Sea” by Neil Swidey.
