December 02, 2004
12/3 - Poor St. Croix: What happened?
There was once a time, 25 years ago, when St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, was one of the gems of the Caribbean, especially for the study of marine biology. Farleigh Dickinson had a thriving marine biological laboratory and the Hydrolab undersea research facility was housing teams of research divers spending a week at 60 foot depth (I did a very memorable mission in 1984). Today the place is a mess, as reported in this article that says a few cruise ships are going to try coming back:
"The return of Royal Caribbean comes two years after most major cruise lines suspended visits to St. Croix, citing crime and saying there wasn't enough for passengers to do. St. Croix went from hosting an average of 230,000 passengers annually to 2,300 from smaller cruise companies."
Hydrolab, the predecessor to Aquarius, remains the most used underwater laboratory in the history of underwater habitats. Approximately 180 Hydrolab missions were conducted; 100 missions in the Bahamas during the early to mid 1970s, and 80 missions in St. Croix, USVI, from 1977 to 1985.