Budget Cuts Threaten Underwater Lab

March 22 -- As the push begins to build an base on the moon, another remote outpost, this one anchored to the ocean floor, faces budget cuts that may leave it gasping for air.

The Aquarius research station, a 400-square-foot capsule that rests 63 feet beneath the surface off the coast of Key Largo, Fla., offers a one-of-a-kind base for marine researchers looking for undiscovered species, evidence of climate change, possible new medical cures and other deep-sea mysteries.

The uniqueness of the project, which is managed by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, is that it allows researchers to bypass the many hours it normally takes to acclimate to the high pressure environs of the ocean deep and to readjust to surface air pressure. By living and sleeping in the underwater station, aquanauts can clock in a full day's — or week's — work.

But it may become increasingly difficult to fund the operation, worries Barbara Moore, director of the National Undersea Research Program, or NURP, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that funds the station.

That's because in the budget that President Bush submitted to the Congress for 2005, NURP faces a $1 million cut, on top of a $1.5 million cut from this year's budget.

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"I'm worried about it," said Moore. "We're faced with having to make some cuts. Aquarius is an important part of the program, but it's one that we'll have to reconsider in light of the recent cuts."

Defense vs. Oceans vs. Space

It's not just Aquarius that may suffer under budget cuts. Ocean research as a whole is hurting, say marine biologists. And some, including famed diver and biologist Sylvia Earle, have argued it's hard to hear about expensive ventures to space while funds for ocean research dwindle.