This underwater habitat, suspended between two waters according to the principle of the ludion, has an aluminium hull and large methacrylate bays open under the sea for stays in saturation at minus 12 m for periods of 7 to 15 days.
Launched off the coast of Marseille, where Captain Cousteau had immersed the world’s first underwater house, Précontinent I, in 1962, Hippocampe I was tested by Jacques Rougerie and COMEX physiologist Bernard Gardette during an experiment on the themes of marine biodiversity, life in extreme environments and the offshore industry. After this first experiment, Hippocampe I went to the Yucatan and was the subject of other underwater life experiments off Cancun, in Isla Mujeres, where the habitat is still exposed.