Glass-bottom boat

A glass bottom boat is a watercraft that are made with parts of the hull below the water line from transparent materials to allow insights into waters without being disturbed by the moving water surface.

The first glass bottom boat was probably built in the late 19th century in Silver Springs, Florida. So to 1878 Hullman Jones have used such a boat to search the water for usable logs. However, are to have no contemporary records, the invention is also partly attributed to Phillip Morell. It is certain that John Morell in the 1890s began glass bottom boats for excursions, 1903, a trial against him was hard, because the many visitors disturbed the operation in the port in Silver Springs. The patent of a glass bottom boat was registered in 1903 by Louis Larson in Muskegon, Michigan.

Beginning of the 20th century were also used for research purposes glass bottom boats, from 1912, for example, in the Adriatic Sea.

Glass bottom boat at Silver Springs Nature Theme Park in Ocala

Modern glass bottom boat on the Great Barrier Reef

View from a glass bottom boat in the Fathom Five National Marine Park, Canada