James Cameron has returned from the Mariana Trench. The director of “Titanic,” “Avatar,” and “The Abyss,” has become the first person in history to make a solo journey to the deepest place on earth, nearly 7 miles below the surface of the ocean.
Cameron and his DeepSea Challenger submarine returned to the surface at 10 p.m. last night (noon local time). National Geographic reports that Cameron surfaced about 300 miles southwest of Guam.
Kevin Hand, a member of the expedition team, told National Geographic :
“Jim came up in what must have been the best weather conditions we’ve seen, and it looks like there’s a squall on the horizon.”
Cameron spent more than three hours at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The director took samples from the bottom of the ocean floor and captured footage for a new documentary. Cameron gave a brief interview this morning and is expected to talk more about his findings later today.
Cameron said:
“There had to be a moment where I just stopped, and took it in, and said, ‘This is where I am; I’m at the bottom of the ocean, the deepest place on Earth. What does that mean?’ I just sat there looking out the window, looking at this barren, desolate lunar plain… It’s really the sense of isolation, more than anything, realizing how tiny you are down in this big vast black unknown and unexplored place.”
Here’s a video of James Cameron after his historic dive to the bottom of the ocean.
National Geographic reports that Cameron is the third person to ever see the bottom of the ocean in the Mariana Trench. U.S. Navy Captain Don Walsh and explorer Jacques Piccard made the journey in the 1960s.
