Over the Bounding Main:
A Brief History of the R/V A.E. Verrill
Dr. John Dindo

Docked not far from the research laboratories at the Sea Lab, the 65-foot research vessel A.E. Verrill offers perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated field trips at the Sea Lab – a chance to trawl the waters of Mobile Bay.  Every year, hundreds of students delight in seeing first-hand the geography of Mobile Bay and what treasures the waters offer.   

Named after Yale University taxonomist Addison Emery Verrill (1839-1926), the vessel was originally launched on October 22, 1966, designed for and delivered to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (The Ford Foundation provided the original funding for the ship).  However, as the research efforts at Woods Hole grew, so did the need for larger vessels.  The Verrill was sold to an individual who took the vessel to Culebra, Puerto Rico and refitted it for a bottom long-line fishing operation.

Unluckily for the owner of the Verrill, the venture turned out to be a failure – attempts at nighttime bottom long-lining trips would see crew members jumping ship and swimming to shore rather than spending a night on the vessel.  The A.E. Verrill fell into disrepair and was abandoned at a dock in Culebra. 

Around that time, Sea Lab staff were looking into purchasing a research/educational vessel to replace the R/V George Rounsefell. A notice in Boats and Harbors listed the Verrill for sale, and members of the Sea Lab staff flew to Culebra to inspect the vessel.  Although the once-proud A.E. Verrill looked like a rust bucket, the staff saw the heart of a working research vessel waiting for the right lab to put it to use.  In 1984 the Dauphin Island Sea Lab bought the vessel and sailed it from Culebra to Dauphin Island, Alabama along a circuitous route that allowed the crew to run to shore in case the vessel began to leak.  Once at the Sea Lab, the vessel was refurbished and in 1985 the A.E. Verrill was once again conducting research, only this time inshore and offshore of the Alabama coast.

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the vessel served both as a marine research and educational platform.  As the technology and tools used to study the oceans became more sophisticated and efficient, the speed of the A.E. Verrill (8 knots) became a drawback to the research community.  Since 1994 the A.E. Verrill has been the main platform for college and grades 7-12 marine science educational programs. For research purposes, the Sea Lab has rented, leased and shifted many efforts to smaller (26’) vessels.  The A.E. Verrill is conducting educational trawling and oceanographic sampling of Mobile Bay and nearshore coastal waters on an average of one hundred and eighty five days a year, enlightening over 6,000 students a year to the value of oceans.

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab is proud to have maintained such an honorable research vessel all these years and expects it to continue in its current capacity in support of our marine educational mission.