Harbor Branch
A photo from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, depicting the Johnson-Sea-Link
Link and J. Seward Johnson, in front of the Johnson-Sea-Link II.
Ed Link's partnerships with other divers, marine scientists, and companies that specialized in ocean research blossomed into initiatives like that of the Harbor Branch Foundation (later renamed the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Insutitution, or HBOI). Founded in 1971 by J. Seward Johnson with encouragement from Link, it established a permanent oceanographic research facility in Florida. Link's primary focus was the design and creation of new submersibles, including the Johnson-Sea-Link which weighed 18,000 pounds and could bring divers down 1,500 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. The Smithsonian Institution retained this vessel, while Harbor Branch launched the JohnsonSea-Link II in 1975. You can see more of what Ed Link was working on by exploring the submersible technology page.
Today, the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Insitute Foundation supports HBOI and works in conjunction with Florida Atlantic University to fund oceanographic research. The Link family, especially Ed Link's sister, Marilyn C. Link, worked closely with the Foundation to explore what they thought was the next great frontier: the deepest parts of the ocean.
Link and Johnson attending Ed Link's annual lecture series at the Smithsonian