A man in Germany is trying to break the Guinness World Record for the longest time spent living in a fixed underwater habitat.
Rüdiger Koch has spent more than 60 days so far in an underwater capsule off the coast of Puerto Lindo, Panama, in the Caribbean Sea. He is halfway to his goal.
“Last time I checked, I was still married,” he joked to AFP.
Koch, 59, began his underwater life in September. 26 and plans to return to Earth in January. 24-120 days later.
The current record for the longest time spent in a fixed underwater habitat is 100 days, achieved by the American Joseph Dituri off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, from March to June 2023.
Koch lived and worked underwater in his 322 square meter living space, complete with a portable toilet, TV, computer, stationary bike, multiple fans, satellite internet and solar power.
The aerospace engineer admitted to CBS News that he misses a real shower in his capsule 36 feet below the surface — saying it’s the first thing he’ll do when he’s back on Earth.
The underwater house has a vertical tube that connects it to another room above the water, which houses the other members of his team and is how food is delivered to him.
People can also go down the tube for a visit. Apart from journalists and the media, Koch’s only visitors have been his doctor, wife and children.
Four cameras monitor Koch, capturing his daily life and providing evidence that he has been underwater the entire time, as well as allowing his team to check on his health.
“I don’t feel like I’m suffering down here, not at all,” Koch said. “The hardest is probably, sometimes I’d like to go diving.”
He added that life underwater is much calmer than life in the city, and he has a team watching from a research lab above ground.
Koch wants to do more than break a record — he believes moving to the ocean is something the human species “should” do.
“What we’re trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a stable environment for human expansion,” he explained to AFP.
There is also an environmental benefit for marine life too, with the underwater chamber acting as an artificial reef and a refuge for fish.
“At night, you can hear all the crustaceans,” he said. “There’s fish there, and there’s all that stuff, and it wasn’t here before we came.”
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