Otto Ruttan got married to Leanne in the Aquarius Reef Base on March 26, 1996. They met at Aquarius during his first day on the job. She was a marine biologist doing aquanaut training, and he, being the new guy, was assigned to count laps during the swimming drill.
Otto had a really amazing mullet, which he thankfully no longer has. I have also confirmed that mullets were not in style in 1996 either.
They potted down a tuxedo and a wedding dress. Because no outsiders were allowed into Aquarius without training and officially sanctioned reasons, Otto’s boss became a notary public and officiated the wedding. Although his best man did not forget the ring, he did forget clothing and had to perform his duties in a towel that kept falling off.
Mission Aquarius is our week-long trip to the world’s last remaining undersea habitat: Aquarius Reef Base.
Brian Lam is an ocean exploration journalist and the editor of The Scuttlefish and The Wirecutter. He is a Gizmodo alum and a Wired Magazine contributor. Videos provided by One World One Ocean, a campaign dedicated to telling the story of the ocean through multimedia.