About Us

The MarineLab Undersea Laboratory Museum is owned and operated by Marine Resources Development Foundation (MRDF), a 501(c)3 organization started in 1970 by President Ian Koblick to learn more about the underwater world and spread that information through exposure and education.

The MarineLab Undersea Lab was an engineering project for the students at the US Naval Academy in the 1970s. Dr. Neil Monney, then Director of the Ocean Engineering Department, used the project to teach practical engineering to his students, resulting in the construction of the MarineLab. When its life as a teaching project was finished, Dr. Monney arranged to have it donated to Marine Resources Development Foundation for use in its high school education programs. In 1984, the Undersea Lab was placed in the boat basin at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and then in 1985 it moved to the lagoon at MRDF. The first students to spend 24 hours in the Undersea Lab and earn the title "Aquanaut" were from Ft Lauderdale High School, Broward County, Florida, under the direction of teacher Bill Haynes. Over the next thirty years, the undersea lab hosted hundreds of students and was also the site of several research projects.

In March 2018, the Undersea Lab was removed from the lagoon and emplaced on dry land in Key Largo Undersea Park. It was thoroughly cleaned and restored to its original condition when first emplaced in 1985. Now it is accessible to people of all ages who can go inside and get a feel for what it would have been like to live, work, and sleep underwater!