Only 55 feet remain visible after the crew partially floods the ballast tanks aboard the Floating Instrument Platform, or FLIP, causing the vessel to turn stern first into the ocean. The 355-foot research vessel, owned by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and operated by the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, conducts investigations in a number of fields, including acoustics, oceanography, meteorology and marine mammal observation.