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A
lot of people don’t realize that there is a greater concentration of
marine oriented industries ranging from military to recreation to commerce
to education and research concentrated in southeastern Connecticut than
probably any other part of our country and, perhaps, even the world. And
so southeastern Connecticut is a logical place for this kind of major
expansion of our state’s flagship university.
I
and my cohorts a short while ago formed a not-for-profit foundation called
the Ocean Technology Foundation whose goal it is to develop …undersea
systems that will allow men and women, engineers, military people, scientists, students, educators
to live and work effectively in the
sea for weeks and months at a time down to depths of about 600, 800
feet, to better understand this very complex marine environment, the
so-called continental shelf. Some
of these are very visionary undertakings on our part.
This kind of research is valuable not only for our own local
waters but there’s such a tremendous need for these kinds of
environmental and aquaculture production type systems around the world.
CRONKITE: Famed deep-sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard came to
Connecticut after many years of being headquartered at Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.
ROBERT
BALLARD (President, Institute for Exploration): Our work is down to
20,000 feet and most people don’t realize that most of the ocean is
very deep. The average depth is 12,000 feet. So what we’re trying to
do with our new exhibit center is to sensitize people to the role the
oceans play in our planet and we’re the only kind of educational
program in the world that deals with the deep sea. So that’s its
education component.
Its
academic potential really grew out of my discovery of the Titanic and
that was the realization that the deep sea is a preserver of human
history. And so what we’re doing here at IFE is to bring together
the Oceanographic world which is the one I’ve been living in for the
last 30 years with the archeological world, to create a whole new
field of research called deep water archeology.
I
came to southeastern Connecticut because of the critical mass that was
already here. There’s
so many different entities here that are committed to the ocean and
all of them, and this is very critical, are willing to work together.
So I see a great future.
I’m very involved in the history and the maritime history of
this state, it’s a great, great history.
CLOSE
CRONKITE: The story of Connecticut and the sea is constantly evolving,
connecting the rich maritime history of the state to its future.
Through
the centuries, Connecticut's people have used the sea for an endless
stream of maritime commerce, production and recreation.
Some industries have run their course, and become part of
history. Others have been transformed by changing times. Still others
are yet to be born and to flourish.
In
the final analysis, the defining characteristic of Connecticut's
relationship with the sea is the fertile meeting of imagination with
the sea's infinite possibilities -- how ideas, expertise and bold
ventures have created great rewards -- often with equal sacrifice.
Somewhere,
at this moment, someone is looking out at Long Island Sound's watery
horizon, with yet another new idea on how to exploit, nurture or
harness this richest of resources.
That
is the continuing story of Connecticut and the sea.
Credits
Forebitter
--
Strike
the Bell
Down
on the poop deck walkin’ all about,
There’s a second mate so steady and so stout,
What he’s a thinkin’ he knows not himself,
We’re wishing he would
hurry up and strike the bell.
Strike
the bell second mate,
Let us go below,
Look you well to windward you can see it’s going to blow,
Lookin’ at the glass you can see that it has fell,
And we wish that you would hurry up and strike the bell.
Now down on the main deck
and workin’ at the pumps,
There’s a larboard watch just longing for the bunks.
Looking to the windward they see a great swell,
They’re wishin’ that the second mate would strike the bell.
Strike the bell second mate,
Let us go below,
Look you well to windward you can see it’s going to blow,
Lookin’ at the glass you can see that it has fell and we wish that
you would hurry up and strike the bell.
Now
at the wheel poor Anderson stands,
Clutchin’ at the spokes with his cold mittened hands.
Lookin’ at the compass at the course is sure and well,
He’s wishing that the second mate would strike the bell.
Strike the bell second mate,
Let us go below,
Look you well to windward you can see it’s going to blow,
Lookin’ at the glass you can see that it has fell and we wish that
you would hurry up and strike the bell.
Strike the bell second mate,
Let us go below,
Look you well to windward you can see it’s going to blow,
Lookin’ at the glass you can see that it has fell and we wish that
you would hurry up and strike the bell.
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