Explorer

ALARMING! Trash found littering ocean floor, in world's deepest ever submarine dive

Human trash has reached ocean floors, Victor Vescovo who made the deepest ever dive in Pacific said.

New Delhi: In an appalling discovery, a Texas investor and explorer who made the deepest dive ever made by a human inside a submarine, found plastic trash and cans at the deepest explored point in the Pacific, reports said. A retired naval officer Victor Vescovo said he made the unsettling discovery nearly 6.8 miles to a point in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, where he saw angular metal or plastic objects, one with some writing on it. The first deep dive into the Mariana Trench was in the year 1960, when U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard ventured into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Then years later, in 2012, movie director James Cameron made a solo trip into the Mariana Trench. Vescovo said in an interview that it was very disappointing to see obvious human contamination of the deepest point in the ocean. His team reportedly believes that they discovered four new prawn-like species in total. They also saw a spoon worm, a pink snailfish, and colored rocky outcrops, all inhabitants of the deep sea. However, the most alarming of all discoveries was to find human led pollution at the deepest point in the Pacific. Details of the voyage, made on May 1, were released for the first time on Monday. Vescovo, a 53-year-old financier with a naval background, told CNN that his journey to the depths was about testing the limits of human endeavour as much as scientific discovery. "I criss-crossed all over the bottom looking for different wildlife, potentially unique geological formations or rocks, man-made objects, and yes, trying to see if there was an even deeper location than where the Trieste went all the way back in 1960," Vescovo said. Discoveries in the Challenge Deep included "vibrantly colourful" rocky outcrops that could be chemical deposits, prawn-like supergiant amphopods, and bottom-dwelling Holothurians, or sea cucumbers. The team of the Five Deeps Expedition that Vescovo's voyage was a part of, said its scientists were going to perform tests on the creatures found to determine the percentage of plastics found in them.

Top Headlines

Pak Interior Minister visits Tehran for third time in weeks amid US-Iran tensions
Pak Interior Minister visits Tehran for third time in weeks amid US-Iran tensions
Starvation Fears Grow In Oleshky As Ukraine Urges Immediate Evacuations
Starvation Fears Grow In Oleshky As Ukraine Urges Immediate Evacuations
Man Dies After Shark Attack While Fishing With Family In Western Australia
Man Dies After Shark Attack While Fishing With Family In Western Australia
US-Iran War: Araghchi Dismisses Trump's Suggestion of Meeting Mojtaba Khamenei, Says 'Be Realistic'
Araghchi Dismisses Trump's Suggestion of Meeting Mojtaba Khamenei, Says 'Be Realistic'

Videos

Economy News: PM Modi Chairs Key Economic Advisory Council Meeting Amid Global Uncertainty
Global Tensions: Rubio's Remarks on Mojtaba Khamenei Spark Fresh Debate Over Iran's Influence
World Affairs: Iran Rejects Trump Meeting Speculation, Signals Tough Stance on Frozen Assets
Breaking: Shreyas Iyer Named India’s T20 Captain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi Earns Maiden National Call-Up
Breaking: Khan Sir Back in the Spotlight Amid Patna Firing Probe

Photo Gallery

25°C
New Delhi
Rain: 100mm
Humidity: 97%
Wind: WNW 47km/h
See Today's Weather
powered by
Accu Weather
Embed widget