An international expedition aiming to conquer the deepest points of the five oceans has rewritten history by making the first dive to the bottom of the Java Trough, the deepest place in the eastern Indian Ocean.
Explorer Victor Vescovo of Five Deeps («Five Deeps») is the first person ever to have reached a depth of 7,192 metres.
«I am incredibly proud of Victor, his team and their contribution to ocean science»," said Rob McCallum Rob McCallum from EYOS Expeditions, which is coordinating the expedition.
Veskowo achieved the record using the DSV Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2), a two-person deep-sea manned vessel developed by Triton Submarines. The high-tech titanium vehicle with Kongsberg EM124 multibeam echo sounder costs $48 million.
During the dive the bathyscaphe took pictures of the unknown «gelatinous creature».
The unidentified sea creature resembles a balloon on a string.
«It's not often that we see something so unusual, capable of rendering us speechless. At the moment, it's not certain what species it was, but we'll find out eventually»," Dr Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University, who leads the Five Deeps scientific mission, was struck by the unexpected discovery.
We are looking at an apparently unknown to the world ascidian, a chordate animal of the shell-feeding subtype. Interesting fact: normally, ascidians attach to the bottom with their large, long tentacles, but this find behaves differently.
Jamieson told CNN Travel that the mysterious ascidia has adapted specifically to the conditions of the Java Trough - the environment here is seismically dangerous.
Mysterious Creature to be shown on wide-screen TV - Discovery Channel plans a five-part documentary series «Five Depths» to air in late 2019.
By the way, Dr. Jamieson has also been conquering the abyss - on his second descent«Triton» with PatrickLahey, president of Triton Submarines, as the pilot.
This is the third dive performed by the expedition. Previously, the deepest points of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans have been explored. Next stop is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The project«Five Depths» will be completed in September.
Note that the expedition is part of a global joint project between Gebco and Nippon Foundation to map the entire world's ocean floor by 2030.
