Two days ago, explorer and director James Cameron descended 35,756 feet in a submersible to the deepest part of the ocean…the Mariana Trench.

Voyage to the Mariana Trench!

For the last few months, James Cameron has been angling to reach Challenger Deep – the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. In the process, he has raced three other groups – Triton Submarine (who wants to commercialize the Mariana Trench trip at a whopping $250,000 per person), Virgin Oceanic (owned by Richard Branson), and DOER Marine. Two days ago,James Cameron piloted his submersible 35,756 feet to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Cameron stayed in the Mariana Trench for about three hours. He didn’t stay as long as expected (he was supposed to be in the Trench for up to six hours). He also suffered at least one equipment-related malfunction – the crashing of the sub’s hydraulic arm. But otherwise, his expedition was a smashing success.

Now, he’s back…with some of the first footage from the expedition. Check out the whole video of the Mariana Trench expedition at National Geographic.

Yesterday, at 5:51pm EST, director James Cameron’s submersible descended 35,756 feet to the deepest part of the ocean…the Mariana Trench. Eight minutes later, in a sign of the times, he tweeted about it:

“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.” ~ James Cameron

What’s in the Mariana Trench?

That’s some impressive mobile reception! Anyway, Cameron stayed in the Mariana Trench for about three hours and resurfaced at 10pm EST. He didn’t stay as long as expected (he was supposed to be in the Trench for up to six hours). He also suffered at least one equipment-related malfunction – the crashing of the sub’s hydraulic arm. But otherwise, his expedition was a smashing success.

So, what did he see down there? Well, not a whole lot. It turns out the Mariana Trench is extremely isolated and appears devoid of big creatures. However, subsequent dives may change that opinion. In the meantime, here are some select quotes from today’s live press conference, provided by Deep Sea Challenge:

• “The ocean gave me a choice: you can either make this dream, or you can go to the red carpet premiere of Titanic in London.”
• “Don Walsh (who reached the Trench in 1960) and I are in a very unique club of two people who has seen what is down there in such a remote place.”
• “I see this as the beginning of opening up this frontier. Open up to science & understand these deep places.”
• “I expected life and I found that the life is much smaller. Didn’t see big jellyfish and anemones I saw at the New Britain Trench.”
• “This is a vast frontier that’s going to take us awhile to understand. It was very lunar, desolated, isolated.”
• “The bottom of Challenger Deep was featureless. I had this idea that life would adapt, but don’t think we’re seeing that.”
• “We’re going to do better on the next dive w/ samples. When hydraulic arm crashed, it crashed hard.”

Guerrilla Explorer’s Analysis

So, that’s it for now. Stay tuned…we’ll post the link to the press conference as soon as it’s available. And of course, all of us here at Guerrilla Explorer want to wish a hearty congratulations to James Cameron and the team at Deep Sea Challenge…way to go!

On January 23, 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard descended 35,814 feet into the deepest part of the ocean…the Mariana Trench. Now, director James Cameron intends to duplicate the feat.

Race to the Mariana Trench!

James Cameron hopes to become the first person to reach Challenger Deep – the deepest part of the Mariana Trench – in 52 years. He’s racing against three other groups – Triton Submarine (who wants to commercialize the Mariana Trench trip at a whopping $250,000 per person), Virgin Oceanic (owned by Richard Branson), and DOER Marine. Here’s more on Cameron’s upcoming expedition to the Mariana Trench:

Squeezed into a submersible as futuristic as anything in his movies, James Cameron intends to descend solo to the ocean‘s deepest point within weeks, the Canadian filmmaker and explorer announced Thursday. (See more pictures of Cameron’s sub.)

Just Tuesday, during testing off Papua New Guinea, Cameron dived deeper than any other human has on a solo mission. Now he aims to become the first human to visit the Mariana Trench‘s Challenger Deep in more than 50 years—and to return with animals, images, and data that were unthinkable in 1960.

That year the two-person crew of the U.S. Navy submersible Trieste—still the only humans to have reached Challenger Deep—spent only 20 minutes at the bottom, their view obscured by silt stirred up by the landing (more on the Trieste dive)…

(See National Geographic for more on James Cameron’s expedition to the bottom of the Mariana Trench)