The Rivera Ocean Seismic Experiment was a multi-institutional marine seismic experiment held off western Mexico during early 1979. Dense spatial sampling was provided by ocean bottom seismometers and ocean bottom hydrophones recording both natural events and explosions. The ROSE experiment and a companion land experiment generated a data base of approximately 76,000 'events' (source-instrument pairs). Procedures for efficient data storage, retrieval, and exchange were designed and implemented at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics. Data capabilities of the exchange are demonstrated by using data from several participants to obtain qualitative estimates of the attenuation of seismic energy in the oceanic mantle near the East Pacific Rise and through the ocean/continent margin near Petatlan, Guerrero, Mexico. The data base is now available for general use.