"Dream Bigger, Change History"

On October 31, 2013, I moderated a roundtable discussion at the Pioneers Festival in Vienna, Austria. The "Explorers Panel" including Ariel Fuchs of SeaOrbiter and Bas Lansdorp of Mars One, both of whom are working on incredibly ambitious entrepreneurial ventures. The Festival was a 3-day celebration of technology innovation, with 50+ speakers, 25+ startups, and 2500+ attendees.

There were some technical glitches that prevented the introduction and conclusion from going exactly as planned, but overall the entire session went quite smoothly.

It consisted of 4 sections:

• Part 1: "Dream Bigger, Change History"
• Part 2: Highlights from my professional life
• Part 3: Panel discussion
• Part 4: Conclusion

Here is the video:

Since the final edit of the public video focused more on me and the panelists than on the constantly changing slides, here is the entire slide presentation:

Giant Squid Caught on Video!

Human history is filled with stories about fanciful ocean creatures that reach out of the deep to consume entire ships and drag sailors to their watery graves. Over the years, scientists have developed theories based on scant evidence that "giant squid" truly do exist ... living at extreme depths, sporting tentacles spreading wide enough to grab large buildings, and feeding on some of the largest mammals on the planet. However, no one has ever seen a giant squid alive in its natural environment. Until now.

A few months ago, an expedition funded by NHK TV in Japan set out to find these elusive predators. Several of our friends were involved in the project, most of them piloting the submarines carrying the scientists and filmmakers. They ultimately succeeded in their mission, and their story will soon be told to the world. Here is a video trailer previewing their amazing discovery.

MSN "News on Main"

Over the years, I have been interviewed many times for print, web, and broadcast news outlets. Perhaps I have become jaded, but I am not easily impressed with the end product from most media or journalists. It is rare to end with a piece that is factually accurate, visually compelling, entertaining, and informative. Of all the stories I have appeared in, my recent experience with MSN's News of Main is probably my favorite. They were extremely professional from start to finish, the crew they sent to conduct the onsite interviews was a pleasure to work with, and their finished product was well-structured and edited. Below are the two stories they ran, one focused on me personally and one focused on OceanGate as a startup venture.

Let's Explore the Ocean (Infographic)

I love infographics, especially when they relate to one of my passions!

Created by: MastersDegree.net

Cameron Succeeds!

I wrote an earlier post about the "Race to the Bottom" of the world's oceans. Well, yesterday James Cameron succeeded in his solo dive to the deepest part of the world. Very exciting times ahead for ocean exploration and manned submersibles!

"Race to the Bottom"

Over the past few weeks, the global media has been making a big deal about a proclaimed "Race to the Bottom". This "race" refers to several individuals and companies seeking to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the planet's oceans, in a variety of different submarines. Of course, this is really not a race at all, since two men (Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh) already made the descent over 50 years ago as part of a U.S. Navy exercise. In fact, as Walsh likes to put it, this current frenzy is really just a "Race for Second".

That being said, there is no denying that this recent crop of adventurers and explorers is helping to rekindle a worldwide public interest in the oceans, manned submersibles, and exploration in general. Here is a brief overview of each participant in this "race":

James Cameron


The famed director of mega-hit films like the Terminator and Alien series, Titanic, and Avatar, has had a long-time fascination with the oceans, manned submersibles, and exploration in general. He is close friends with the recognized godfather of research submarines, Anatoly Sagalevich, he has made several descents to the Titanic, and he has produced underwater documentaries such as Aliens of the Deep and Ghosts of the Abyss. Overall, he has over 70 dives in deep submersibles. He leads a NatGeo-backed team that has spent almost eight years developing a one-person submarine specifically for the attempt to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep within the Mariana Trench. If successful, Cameron will set the world solo diving record, and the team will boast the world's deepest diving active submarine.

Outlook. Cameron will likely make the full descent by the end of March 2012.

Richard Branson


In late-2010, sailboat racer Chris Welsh decided to honor one of his heroes, world-record aviator/sailor/explorer Steve Fossett, by taking up the challenge he was working on when he perished in a plane crash in 2007: the world solo diving record to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Fossett had commissioned Graham Hawkes to design a submarine specifically for the world-record attempt, but he died before the sub got to its sea trials. Welsh purchased the unfinished sub from Fossett's estate, hired Hawkes to complete the project, and partnered with Richard Branson, Fossett's long-time partner, to create Virgin Oceanic ("VO"). While Branson has garnered the media spotlight during this "race", VO still remains Welsh's passion project, expanded to include diving to the deepest points in each of the world's five oceans.

Outlook. The sub has not yet passed its pressure tests, so it is unlikely that VO will make its dive attempt until late-2012.


Triton Submarines


Triton is a reknowned builder of submarines specifically tailored for use aboard luxury yachts. The company is fronted by master-marketer Bruce Jones and headed by acclaimed sub expert Patrick Lahey, and together they have delivered six submarines ranging in depth capabilities from 1,000 feet to 3,300 feet and carrying 2-3 passengers in different configurations. They have extended their unique sub designs to include a three-person Full Ocean Depth ("FOD") model 36000/3, which could reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Outlook. Triton is still looking for its first client to pay for the development of the FOD 36000/3.


Deepsearch


The brainchild of famed ocean explorer Sylvia Earle and initially backed by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, the Deepsearch project is taking a unique "open source" approach to community-based design and development of a deep-diving submarine. The project is spearheaded by Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, an ocean engineering firm headed by Sylvia's daughter, Liz Taylor.

Outlook. This project is still looking for additional financing to move beyond initial design stage.

Deepest-Diving Submarines in the World

When I co-founded OceanGate in 2009, my partner and I wanted to create a business that helped "expand humanity's understanding of the world's oceans" ... by using manned submersibles ("submarines") to support ocean exploration and marine research. One of the most common questions I get is "How deep can submarines go?"

Well, the deepest part of the world's oceans lies approximately 11,000 meters underwater. The Challenger Deep region of the Mariana Trench in the South Pacific is such a deep canyon that you could place Mt. Everest inside and still have 1.5 miles of water above the peak. Only two human beings have ever been to this remote location: Swiss oceanographer and engineer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh made the descent on January 23, 1960. No one has been back since (although there are currently a few individual efforts underway to do so).

In fact, the deepest diving (non-military) manned submersibles in the world reach just about half that depth (which still gives humans access to roughly 98% of the world's oceans). There are currently only 6 submarines in the world capable of reaching these extreme depths, and they are operated by 5 national governments. Hopefully, this will change in the near future (with OceanGate playing a key role), but until then here is the line-up:

Alvin -- 4,500 meters -- United States

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Nautile -- 6,000 meters -- France

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Mir I & Mir II -- 6,000 meters -- Russia

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Shinkai 6500 -- 6,500 meters -- Japan

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Jiaolong -- 7,000 meters -- China

No Time On Our Side

One of the most common questions we get about our submarine, Antipodes, is this: how long can you survive in case of an emergency?

As with most submarines, especially those with similar A+1 safety classifications from the American Bureau of Shipping, the answer is 72 hours, or roughly 3 days. (Actually, the technically correct answer is 360 man-hours, so 72 hours is at our full complement of 5 people.) Of course, it is difficult for me to imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a small submersible with four other people for three days ... the whole time waiting to be rescued.

In 1973, two submarine pilots had the misfortune of living through this exact experience. At the end of an exhausting 9-hour mission 150 miles off the coast of Cork, Ireland, the Pisces III submarine became disabled and sank to the ocean floor at 480 meters (1,575 feet), trapping pilots Roger Chapman and Roger Mallinson with no way out. They waited on the sea bottom for over 3 days while a massive global rescue effort took place with the entire world watching and holding its collective breath. Much like the Apollo 13 mission three years prior, it was a life-and-death struggle where hundreds of professionals worked feverishly to bring home safely two brave men from an immensely hostile environment. The outcome was a testament to the courage of the trapped pilots, but an even stronger affirmation of the ingenuity, resolve, and teamwork of the many people who made possible the successful recovery of the sub and crew.

Chapman later wrote a gripping book about the ordeal, and he appropriately entitled it No Time On Our Side. I think about this story every time I get in our sub, and I have made it required reading for all of our pilots and crew. I hope that someday someone will turn this into a major motion picture and associated documentary, because it is a dramatic human story that should be shared with a global audience and new generation of explorers.

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