‘dr. Deep Sea’ resurfaces after 100 days underwater, shattering previous record
A Florida professor who spent 100 days living underwater at a Florida Keys diver’s lodge resurfaced on Friday and saw the sun for the first time since March 1.
Dr Joseph Dituri, known as Dr Deep Sea, set a new record for longest life underwater without depressurization while staying at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, submerged below 30 feet (9.14 meters) of water in a Key Largo lagoon.
“For 100 days I explored,” Dituri said. “I explored life, the life of the oceans and the life of generations to come.”
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, diving explorer and medical researcher Dr. Joseph Dituri, left, basks in the sun Friday, June 9, 2023, after completing a 100-day underwater mission in the marine habitat Jules’ Undersea Lodge at the bottom of a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
Dituri broke the previous mark of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes set by two Tennessee professors in the same lodge in 2014. At his 74th. day, Guinness World Records listed Dituri as the record holder on its website.
Dituri spent nearly 3 months researching how the human body and mind respond to prolonged exposure to extreme pressure and an isolated environment and was designed to benefit ocean researchers and astronauts on future long-term missions. .
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“It was never about a record,” Dituri said. “It was about extending human tolerance to the underwater world and to an isolated, confined and extreme environment.”
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, diving explorer and medical researcher Dr. Joseph Dituri embraces his primary physician, Dr. Sarah Spelsberg, Friday, June 9, 2023, after living for 100 days in the marine habitat Jules’ Undersea Lodge at the bottom of a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
The University of South Florida educator, with a doctorate in biomedical engineering and a retired U.S. Navy officer, conducted daily experiments and measurements to monitor how his body was responding to the increased pressure over time.
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He has also met several thousand students from 12 countries online, taught a USF course, and welcomed more than 60 visitors to the habitat.
“The most rewarding part about this is interacting with nearly 5,000 students and their concern to preserve, protect and rejuvenate our marine environment,” said Dituri.
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, dive explorer and medical researcher Dr. Joseph Dituri prepares to leave the Jules’ Undersea Lodge marine habitat on Friday, June 9, 2023, after living in the habitat for 100 days at the bottom of a Key Largo, Florida, lagoon. (Mike Zimmer/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, diving explorer and medical researcher Dr. Joseph Dituri, right, is examined by Dr. Sarah Spelsberg, left, Friday, June 9, 2023, after living 100 days in Jules’ Undersea. Marine habitat lodge at the bottom of a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
Dituri documented some of his daily life underwater on Instagram.
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He plans to present the results of the Neptune 100 project at November’s World Extreme Medicine Conference in Scotland.
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