‘Dr Deep Sea’ emerges after 100 days living underwater – and he’s shrunk

2023-06-12

A professor dubbed "Dr Deep Sea" has finally emerged after spending 100 days underwater.

Joseph Dituri, 55, was awarded a Guinness World Record for spending the longest time in an underwater fixed habitat after he spent more than three months at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, an underwater hotel 30 feet below the surface of a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida.

But the University of South Florida employee and retired naval officer, who resurfaced over the weekend, said his time underwater was "never about the record".

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"It was about extending human tolerance for the underwater world and for an isolated, confined, extreme environment," he said.

The biomedical engineer first entered the underwater lodge on March 1 as part of Project Neptune 100, an "underseas mission combining research and ocean conservation outreach" organised by the Marine Resources Development Foundation (MRDF).

The project aimed to look at the "physiological and psychological effects of compression on the human body" as well as highlight the importance of marine conservation.

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A press release from the University of South Florida said Dituri initially decided to take on the challenge as the high levels of pressure underwater has the potential to help humans live longer and prevent certain age-related diseases.

And the initial findings from the study seem to back this up – he emerged from the aquatic resort with much better sleep, cholesterol levels and inflammation levels, according to the initial findings of the study.

One of the less desirable effects of Dituri's stay underwater was that he shrank half an inch due to the pressure under the lagoon's surface.

But there's still a lot more research to be done and Dituri and his medical team will analyse data collected before, during and after the 100-day stint before presenting their findings at the World Extreme Medicine Conference in November.

Robert Frisina, chair of the University of South Florida's medical engineering department, said: "Dr Dituri’s amazing accomplishment is a great testimony to significant advances in knowledge and translational research that we are making here at USF in the area of bariatric medicine.

"Much important data has been collected over the past 100 days that will eventually find its way to key preventative and curative clinical procedures."

Dituri earned his world record for the longest time spent living underwater after 74 days at Jules', on May 13.

However, he went on to beat his own record and didn't resurface for another 26 days.

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