Atlantic Productions film Victor Vescovo as be becomes the first human to dive to the deepest point of the Indian Ocean: the Java Trench
April 17, 2019
For the third time, the Five Deeps Expedition has successfully dived to the previously-unvisited bottom of one of the world’s five oceans. The team completed a mission to reach one of the most isolated points on the planet: the deepest point of the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean. Now measured at 7,192 meters/23,596 feet deep, Victor Vescovo is the first human to dive to its depths in the DSV Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2 model submersible) the world’s deepest diving, currently operational submarine.
At the bottom of the trench, the team managed to capture footage from the sub and from the landers of what are believed to be entirely new species, yet unseen by humans. From the sub, a new species of hadal snailfish was observed amongst many other bottom dwelling organisms, and the landers observed an extraordinary gelatinous animal – thought to be a bottom dwelling comb jelly – which does not resemble anything seen before.
Expedition scientist Dr. Jamieson said “amongst many other rare and unique observations, the hadal comb jelly was a really significant moment. It is not often we see something that is so extraordinary that it leaves us speechless. At this point we are not entirely sure what is was, but we will find out in due course.”
The Five Deeps Expedition is being filmed by Atlantic Productions for a five-part Discovery Channel documentary series due to air in late 2019.
