Water mask

Aquatic support apparatus - Aquan front and back

Overview of water mask

Aquatic support apparatus - kirk and spock

Kirk and Spock take off their water masks before jumping into the ocean on Argo

A water mask was a life support device that allowed a water-breather to survive outside of it's natural habitat. It consisted of a helmet filled with water and a backpack that contained a mechanism to assist in the life support process.

In 2269, an amphibian Elysian councilor wore a water mask, when she visited aboard the USS Enterprise, while the ship was stranded in Elysia. (TAS: "The Time Trap")

Later that year, and after being mutated by the Aquan surgo-op, James T. Kirk and Spock became water-breathers and had to be kept in an aquarium in sickbay. While en route to the surface of the ocean planet Argo to discover the source of their mutation, they wore an aquatic support apparatus so they could breathe. Similarly, the Aquans wore water masks while they visited the USS Enterprise. (TAS: "The Ambergris Element")

These devices were not described in the episode, but are described in the first-draft of the script as "transparent, water-filled masks over their noses and mouths."
The 1976 edition of Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance describes the woman wearing this apparatus as "an Aquan-looking female in a water helmet."
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