Invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Jean Mollard, the Soucoupe plongeante or "Diving Saucer" was a small two-person submarine that could dive to depths of over 1000 fsw. Back in the early 1960s, Professor Emeritus Dr. Doug Inman of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and other deep diving scientists from Scripps explored the deep underwater canyons off the California coast in the famed Cousteau Diving Saucer. These explorations led to a better understanding of how these deep canyons are formed over time by powerful "turbidity currents."

Combining vintage underwater film footage from the 1916 silent film "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" with Scripps Archives images of the Cousteau Diving Saucer and underwater images from deep water canyon dives, Dr. Douglas Inman tells some of the stories of these historic scientific voyages into the deep water canyons.