Mariana Trench is just off the coast of the Philippines

James Cameron Descends 7 Miles Into Pacific Ocean’s ‘Desolate’ Mariana Trench

More About DEEPSEA Challenge


Brought to by James Cameron, National Geographic and Rolex

March 26, 2012 — In a state-of-the-art submersible, National Geographic explorer-in-residence and filmmaker James Cameron reached the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, breaking a world record for the deepest solo dive.


Transcript below: See Video Story

“Titanic” director James Cameron returns from the depths of the Pacific Ocean. He’s completed the world’s first solo dive to the deepest-known point on earth. After descending to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, southwest of Guam, in a specially designed submarine, Cameron safely returned to the surface at around noon local time. The filmmaker had arrived at the underwater site known as “Challenger Deep” shortly before 8 am, reaching a depth of 35,756 feet – or roughly seven miles. He spent about three hours at the bottom collecting research samples for marine biology and geology. Cameron is the third person ever to reach the lowest point in the Mariana Trench. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMES CAMERON, SAYING: “It was bleak. It was like the moon. I kept thinking, man this is a long way down. You go past Titanic and then you go past Bismarck, then you go past where the Mirs (type of submarine) can go and then you’re still only, you know, half way there or two thirds of the way there, it’s crazy.” The expedition was a joint project by Cameron, National Geographic and watchmaker Rolex that’s been dubbed “Deepsea Challenge”. While he is perhaps better known as the director of such films as “Titanic”, “Avatar” and “Aliens”, Cameron is no stranger to underwater exploration. For “Titanic”, he took 12 dives to the famed shipwreck in the North Atlantic. He has since led another six expeditions.”
Travis Brecher, Reuters James Camero

Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean 10.923 m (35.837 ft)
Mariana Trench is the deepest sea part in the world, and the lowest elevation of the surface of the Earth. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east side of the Mariana Islands. Trench approximately 2550 km long, but has an average thickness of only about 69 km.

National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and Filmmaker James Cameron plans to soon dive in a specially designed submarine to the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, earth’s deepest point. No human has attempted such a dive since 1960.

Related Posts

  1. The $400 million dollar film Avatar: opens the door to an exicting video graphics future
  2. Prediction: World Population to hit 7 billion
  3. The future as seen through the eyes of Dr. James Canton futurist
  4. Ocean power at last, why waste the wave action on just surfers
  5. Education: Sunday Morning News – Access the William James Lectures at Harvard