John Ndlovu
Information and Technology Reporter
A fifty-five year old man Joseph Dituri clocked 74 days staying under water at Jules’ Undersea Lodge without depressurisation last weekend breaking the previous record of 73 days held by Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain in 2014.
Depressurization is a process that involves reducing the pressure in a specific environment or container, often for safety or practical reasons.
Whilst celebrating clicking 74 days on Sunday, Dr. Dituri who is a University professor in the United States of America revealed his aims of reaching 100 days under the water located at the bottom of a 9 meter deep (30-foot) lagoon in Key Largo in a bid to complete his underwater mission dubbed Project Neptune 100 that was arranged by the Marine Resources Development Foundation.
“The record is a small bump and I really appreciate it.”He said
This mission combines medical and ocean research together with educational outreach.
Dr. Dituri also known as ‘Dr Deep Sea’ is a lecturer at the University of South Florida with a doctorate in biomedical engineering he is also a retired US Navy officer.
Dituri stated that the main idea of the research is to create habitat in the oceans and take care of them.
“The idea here is to populate the world’s oceans, to take care of them by living in them and treating them well.
People have made several attempts to stay underwater for extended periods of time without the use of a depressurizer since ancient times. One of the first attempts that was recorded at a longer time underwater was made by Alexander the Great around 300 BCE. He is said to have submerged himself in a glass barrel to study fish and life, although it is unclear of the actual period he stayed and how he managed to breathe.
Another notable attempt was made in 1882 by Leon Foucault who was a Frenchman who built an underwater home and stayed there for several hours while breathing in air pumped in through a hose. However it is said that he failed to continue his experiment due to physical and psychological stress he endured during his stay.
In the mid 20th century, several aquatic researchers made attempts to set records for prolonged underwater stay with the aid of specialized equipment and technology. In 1962, Jacques Cousteau and a team of researchers lived in an underwater habitat called Conshelf 11 for 30 days, using scuba gear to explore the surrounding ocean.