Move aside space exploration, there’s a new frontier for humans to explore and that’s the dark abyss of the deep blue sea. But there is a reason why the deep sea has been largely unexplored. Dive down 650 feet and you will notice that light starts fading rapidly. Dive deeper and the temperature drops and pressure rises. At 13,000 feet the temperature hovers around freezing, and you’re wandering in pitch-black darkness. The conditions are extremely dangerous and a leak or an engine malfunction at depths where the pressure is 1,000 times the norm can turn catastrophic for man or machine alike.
Though it is an arduous challenge, there is one person in particular, who isn’t afraid of such a daunting feat. Avid explorer and Newport Beach native Chris Welsh, has teamed up with another fellow explorer Sir Richard Branson to create the Deep Sub LLc., a submarine that is capable of going to the deepest sea trenches on Earth. Their objective is to accomplish “Five Dives” to the deepest places in each of the five ocean basins, the least explored places on Earth. Each dive will be piloted by different commanders, with Chris Welsh diving to the Mariana Trench (36,201ft) and Sir Richard serving as his back up pilot.
Thus, in an effort to raise further awareness about the deep sea explorations, The Environmental Nature Center (ENC) in Newport Beach, CA. will host a presentation by Chris Welsh on March 2nd at 6pm. The Newport Beach native will go into great detail discussing the submarine’s design, future dive locations, planned explorations and scientific goals.
“It’s so exciting to imagine that there are places and things on our planet that have not yet been explored or discovered,” said ENC Executive Director Bo Glover. “We’re excited to have Chris come to tell us about his adventures and the important impacts they could have.”
The project combines the submarine and the mothership Cheyenne, a 125-foot catamaran. The lightweight mothership allows for this exploration to occur with very low fuel usage, a small crew, and very low cost. The crew will explore these dark abysses for over 18 months using 3% of the fuel and resources of a conventional deep diving program.
“The fact that this project is using technologies to make exploration ‘green’ really makes it a perfect topic to present at the ENC – there’s nature, science AND sustainability!” said ENC Education Director Lori Whalen.
The event is for adults only and tickets can be obtained at encenter.org – Alejandro Reynoso, ENC Communications Intern