SeaSpace Research / TidaLab

One of the exciting initiatives taking place at the Oyster Bay Historical Society is the uploading of photographs from our extensive photograph collection to our online, searchable archive. One of the joys of adding these photographs online is finding interesting snapshots of people, events and sometimes objects. Looking through the collection I came across the above photograph. Appearing like a vessel designed by James Bond’s colleague “Q”, this odd, floating laboratory was known as a SeaSpace Research vessel or TidaLab.

In 1966, Robert D. Hawkins wrote:
“Exploration and development of the ocean has called for a new breed of structures with which to occupy the surface of the sea. Structures on which man can live and work in comfort….Such structures might be called stable sea platforms.” Just over 50 ft in diameter, this “research prototype” used signals from hydrophones to gather data. According to the reports created in 1967, the estimated annual operating costs would be just over $16,000. This included one full time captain taking the vessel out three times a week, fifty weeks a year and an average of 30 miles each trip.

In 1967 a letter was written to Ed Patterson, then the Curator of the Nassau County Museum of Natural History, Bob Hawkins expressed that though the “intended” use was for “marine science education of public school groups with short daytime excursions…favor[ing] the floating marine museum idea.” His feelings were that “a child finding a shell or crab could have his questions answered with authority and timeliness.” ~ N. Menchise

Information and photographs gathered from the TidaLab files courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society.