James Cameron Begins Taking New Toy To The Bottom Of The Ocean [Video]

Guam- Filmmaker James Cameron is about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. The Titanic Director is heading in a one man submarine down to the deepest point in the ocean…the famed Mariana Trench.

In history there has only been one other team who has been there, and it was more than 50 years ago that they took the plunge. Cameron is just waiting for calm seas to begin the decent.

Cameron has long been obsessed with the oceans and with his team created the Deepsea Challenger, a one man submersible which is outfitted with the best lighting and 3D cameras money can buy.

While working on one of his films Cameron had the idea that he wanted to go deeper into the ocean.

He told the BBC,

“I started to think about what would it take to go deeper, what would it take to go to full ocean depth – that was kind of the holy grail from an engineering standpoint. So you start ‘noodling’ up designs, and thinking how it would be possible and what would it take. And then there is suddenly this moment that seems to transpire with no transition where you are suddenly doing it. I seem to have that curse that once I imagine something being built, I have to build it.”

The Deepsea Challenger is housed on the deck of a larger ship. It weighs 11 tons and is 23 feet long. It dives in a vertical manner so as to better cut through the water column. Cameron will be standing in the ship with little room to move let along stretch his arms or legs.

Cameron said of his team,

“They all have to be a bit ‘whacked’ to think it is possible to do something that is normally the province of governments or scientific institutions.”

The sub, which has been financed by Cameron along with National Geographic and Rolex, is fitted with robotic arms that can bring sediment, rocks and samples of deep-sea flora and fauna back up to the surface.

When Cameron begins his decent a landing ship also fitted with cameras and baited to attract fish and other underwater life will be waiting for him.

Cameron said,

“Every single dive, I’m going to see something no-one’s ever seen before. I’m going to do my best to image it, light it properly, bring it back in 3D – grab samples if I can, grab rocks if I can. We are there to do science, but we are also there to take the average person who only imagines these things and show them what it is really like.”

The issue now is going to be safety. The sub will do the dive once without Cameron in it then he will take the plunge.

Do you think that James Cameron is crazy or really adventurous?

Watch a video about the Deepsea Challenger.