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James Cameron describes 3 hours at Earth's deepest spot, calls it desolate, foreboding
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The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The last frontier on Earth is out of this world, desolate, foreboding and moon-like, James Cameron said after diving to the deepest part of the ocean.
And he loved it.
The film director said that when he got to this strange, dark place 7 miles (11 kilometres) below the Pacific Ocean that only two other men have been to, he promised himself one thing: He wanted to drink in how unusual it is.
He didn't do that when he first dove to the watery grave of the Titanic, and Apollo astronauts have said they never had time to savour where they were.
"There had to be a moment where I just stopped and took it in and said, 'This is where I am; I'm at the bottom of the ocean, the deepest place on Earth. What does that mean?'" Cameron told reporters during a Monday conference call after spending three hours at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.
"I just sat there looking out the window, looking at this barren, desolate lunar plain, appreciating," Cameron said.
He also realized how alone he was.
"It's really the sense of isolation more than anything, realizing how tiny you are down in this big vast black unknown and unexplored place," Cameron said.
He said he had hoped to see some strange deep sea monster, a creature that would excite the storyteller in him, but he didn't. All he saw were tiny shrimp-like creatures.
But that was OK, he said. It was all about exploration, science and discovery. He is the only person to dive there solo, using a submarine he helped design. He is the first person to reach that depth — 35,576 feet (10,898 metres) — since it was initially explored in 1960.
He spent more than three hours at the bottom, longer than the 20 minutes Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard spent in the only other visit 52 years ago. But it was less than the six hours he had hoped. He said he would return.
"I see this as the beginning," Cameron said. "This is the beginning of opening up this new frontier."
He spent time filming the Marianas Trench, which is about 200 miles (322 kilometres) southwest of the Pacific island of Guam. The trip down to the deepest point took two hours and 36 minutes, starting Sunday afternoon U.S. East Coast time.
His return aboard his 12-ton, lime-green sub called Deepsea Challenger was a "faster-than-expected 70-minute ascent," according to National Geographic, which sponsored the expedition. Cameron is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence.
The only thing that went wrong was the hydraulics on the system to collect rocks and creatures. Just as he was about to take his first sample, a leak in the hydraulic fluid sprayed into the water, and he couldn't bring anything back.
The pressure on the sub was immense — comparable to three SUVs resting on a toe. The super-strong sub shrank 3 inches (7 centimetres) under that pressure, Cameron said.
"It's a very weird environment," Cameron said. "I can't say it's very comfortable. And you can't stretch out."
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