Garnering comparisons to Star Trek's starship Enterprise, the SeaOrbiter is the brainchild of French architect Jacques Rougerie. Set to begin construction this spring, the 190-foot-tall semisubmersible vessel will be the culmination of nearly 30 years of Rougerie's research and development.
Six of the SeaOrbiter's 12 floors are below sea level, allowing for uninterrupted underwater observation. Although the ship's main mission is to research the biodiversity and climate of the sea, the real goal for Rougerie is to give the public a better understanding of how crucial the ocean is to Earth's well-being.
Ninety-nine percent of the $50 million project was financed through the French government and private companies. To get people more involved, Rougerie is crowdfunding the last 1 percent of the project. "The more humans understand about the underwater world, the more respect they will have for it," he says.
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