  Necessary technical experience is being gained from successful construction
and deployment of current prototype detectors to search for UHE neutrinos in
Antarctica, Lake Baikal in Russia, and the Mediterranean. The prototype
detectors have also the important central purpose of determining whether or not
UHE neutrinos do in fact exist in nature by observation of at least a few UHE
neutrino-induced leptons with properties that are not consistent with expected
backgrounds. We discuss here the criteria for a prototype detector to
accomplish that purpose in a convincing way even if the UHE neutrino flux is
substantially lower than predicted at present.
