Mission Blue Page #5

Boom, that's the dead zone.

The Gulf of Mexico already hosts

one of the most notorious

dead zones on the planet.

The Deepwater Horizon spill

just made things a lot worse.

Around the world, hundreds of dead zones

have formed just in the past few decades.

So let's be honest.

You're 18. You're

very beautiful.

Aren't all your friends

going off, getting married?

And did that ever... No, you're

like work, all about work?

I'm not abnormal.

Of course I enjoyed

dating boys and so on.

But I wasn't

interested in anybody

who wasn't interested in

what I was interested in.

It's just very self-centered,

I suppose, but I just...

Football-schmootball. I mean "Who

cares about that?" I thought.

I was attracted to the

nerdy types, I suppose,

who loved talking about the stars,

about space, about animals,

or about diving.

So, you had this sort of

perfect, idyllic life

with this man you loved.

Jack Taylor and I got

married in 1957.

His first job was

as a park ranger,

and we moved from national

park to national park.

It was just a glorious

couple of years.

And he wanted to get his doctorate

and I wanted to get mine.

Then Elizabeth came along.

This is such ancient history.

Good heavens.

The '60s, the '70s

in all of history

really stands out as a time

of exceptional discovery.

This is the first

time an undersea boat

has ever had an undersea base.

We were exploring the ocean

aggressively for the first time,

and we were trying

to go to the moon.

Roger, the EVA is

progressing beautifully.

So it didn't matter which

direction you were going.

It was all great

because either way you were

going to a new and alien world.

As a young scientist, this spirit

of exploration was all around,

and I wanted to be a part of it.

And then came this opportunity

to go on the International

Indian Ocean Expedition in 1964.

The other side of the

world on a boat.

But it'd mean being away

from home for six weeks.

And my children were four and

two, Elizabeth and Richie.

I had never been west

of the Mississippi...

never been out of the

country before then.

And then I really went

out of the country.

Met the boat in Mombasa.

I was interviewed.

It was my first real

experience with the press.

They wanted to know,

"Why are you here?"

And somebody let it be known that I was

the only woman... and all these guys.

And the headline the next

day, Mombasa Daily Times...

- You did say seven-zero men?

- Seven-zero.

Oh, yeah. Big boat.

United States participation

in the biological program

began by converting the former

presidential yacht, Williamsburg,

to an oceanographic ship.

The purpose of the expedition

back in 1964 was... to explore.

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