KEY LARGO, Fla. — A college professor on Friday set a new record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization after 100 days submerged in the Florida Keys.
Dr. Joseph Dituri saw sunlight again after living since March 1 at the Jules' Undersea Lodge underwater hotel, located 30 feet (9 meters) deep.
Explorer and medical researcher Joseph Dituri points to his watch on June 9, 2023, indicating it's time to surface after spending 100 days underwater in a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida.Mariano Lorde/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP
This underwater explorer and medical researcher already pulverized in May the previous record of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes set by two Tennessee professors in the same accommodation in 2014.
"It was never about getting a record," Dituri said. "It was about expanding human tolerance to the underwater world and to an isolated, confined and extreme environment," he explained.
Dituri, who also calls himself Dr. Deep Sea, teaches at the University of South Florida, holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and is a retired U.S. Navy officer.
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It entered the Guinness Book of World Records after achieving the feat of staying 74 days underwater in May, but the Marine Resources Development Foundation, which owns the underwater hotel, said it will ask the organization to update the brand after 100 days, according to the foundation's director, Ian Koblick.
The Dituri marine project, called Project Neptune 100, was organized precisely by that foundation. Unlike a submarine, which uses technology to keep the interior pressure roughly the same as at the surface, the interior of the cabin is adjusted to match the higher pressure found underwater.
Joseph Dituri at Jules' Undersea Lodge on May 13, 2023.AP
The goal was to better understand how the human body and mind respond to prolonged exposure to extreme pressure and an isolated environment, and was designed to benefit ocean researchers and astronauts on future long-duration missions.
During the three months and nine days he spent underwater, Dituri conducted daily experiments and measurements to monitor how his body responded to increased pressure over time.
He also met via videoconference with several thousand students from 12 countries, taught a course at the University of South Florida and hosted more than 60 visitors underwater.
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"The most rewarding thing about all this is the interaction with almost 5,000 students and the fact that they care about conserving, protecting and rejuvenating our marine environment," Dituri said.
He plans to present the results of Project Neptune 100 at the World Conference on Extreme Medicine in Scotland in November.