Iowa History
The Perils And Excitement Of An Iowan’s Floating Marine Biological Laboratory Of 1893
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At Bahia Honda the mosquitoes were so thick no one slept for two nights. And, although the insects were annoying, the group of Iowans from a “floating marine biological laboratory” were in the midst of an experiment that would produce a trove of valuable information. It was the spring of 1893. Charles C. Nutting, a State University of Iowa (SUI) zoology professor, led a team from Iowa to Cuba and the Bahamas traveling on a floating laboratory. The group consisted of teachers and students from SUI and other colleges, as well as a doctor, attorney and journalist.