Cameron: Earth’s deepest spot desolate, foreboding

This February 2012 photo, provided by National Geographic, shows explorer and filmmaker James Cameron emerging from the hatch of Deepsea Challenger during testing of the submersible in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, Australia.
This February 2012 photo, provided by National Geographic, shows explorer and filmmaker James Cameron emerging from the hatch of Deepsea Challenger during testing of the submersible in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, Australia.

— Diving to the deepest part of the ocean, filmmaker James Cameron says the last frontier on Earth looks an awful lot like another planet: desolate and foreboding.

Cameron on Monday described his three hours on the bottom of the Marianas Trench, nearly 7 miles down in a dark freezing and alien place. He is the only person to dive there solo, using a sub he helped design. He is the first person to reach that depth, 35,576 feet, since it was initially explored in 1960.

The Hollywood director touched down in the western Pacific Ocean’s low point shortly before 8 a.m. Guam time Monday (Sunday evening in the U.S. East Coast), the National Geographic Society said.

“Cameron collected samples for research in marine biology, microbiology, astrobiology, marine geology and geophysics,” the Geographic said.

He also spent time filming the Marianas Trench, about 200 miles southwest of the Pacific island of Guam.

The trip to the deepest point took two hours and 36 minutes. But Cameron’s return aboard his 12-ton, lime-green sub called Deepsea Challenger was a “faster-than-expected 70-minute ascent,” according to National Geographic. A helicopter spotted the submersible bobbing in the water and it was brought aboard the ship by a crane.

There were no immediate word on Cameron’s physical condition after the dive, but the expedition said he planned a video interview later in the day. A medical team was present when Cameron, 57, emerged from the sub, according to the expedition.

Cameron also captured still photographs and video, but there was no immediate word on when the images will be released. The Geographic said the expedition is being chronicled for a 3-D feature film for theatrical release and subsequent TV broadcast.

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