‘Titanic’ director reaches bottom of the world in dive

From The Jakarta Globe

“Titanic” director James Cameron reached the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean in his solo submarine Monday in a record-setting scientific expedition.

Mission partner the National Geographic said Cameron reach depth of 35,756 feet (10,898 meters) at 7:52 a.m. on Monday in the Mariana Trench in his specially designed submersible.

Cameron is the first person to make a solo dive to the Pacific Ocean valley known as the Challenger Deep, southwest of Guam, and the first to do it since 1960, according to his team.

His first words on reaching the bottom were “All systems OK,” according to a mission statement.

He then tweeted: “Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you.”

He planned to spend up to six hours on the Pacific Ocean sea floor, collecting samples for scientific research and taking still photographs and moving images.

The research vessels Mermaid Sapphire and Barakuda, were waiting for Cameron to make his long ascent.

“We’re now a band of brothers and sisters that have been through this for a while,” marine biologist Doug Bartlett told National Geographic from the ship before the dive.

Cameron’s goal is to bring back data and specimens from the unexplored territory. He was expected to take 3D images that could help scientists better understand the deep sea environment.

Upon touchdown, Cameron’s first target was a phone booth-like unmanned “lander” dropped into the trench hours before his dive.

Using sonar, “I’m going to attempt to rendezvous with that vehicle so I can observe animals that are attracted to the chemical signature of its bait,” Cameron said before the dive.