Explorer Makes Deepest Ocean Dive in History

 

When Victor Vescovo reached a depth of 10,928 meters in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench¹, he took 15 minutes to look at what surrounded him. He had just reached what is believed to be the deepest point a human has ever gone in the ocean.

He broke the record set by Oscar-winning director James Cameron. It was Cameron who suggested to Vescovo to stop and enjoy the moment.

The deep sea operation, filmed for part of an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary² series, took almost 12 hours.

“I was stunned⁴ to discover when I did my research that of the five oceans, four had never actually had a visitation to their bottoms,” Vescovo said. “I thought it was about time that someone actually did that.”

Vescovo traveled down in a vehicle called the SDV Limiting Factor, a titanium craft outfitted⁵ with high definition cameras.

Patrick Lahey is with Triton Submarines, the company that made the SDV. He said such operations show why more exploration of the oceans is important for science.

“I think it’s important for us human beings to study these areas,” he said, noting how little is known about large parts of the ocean. ”The ocean is the life force of our planet,” he added.

Vescovo said that he believed he found many new species⁶ on the dive. He said the scientific group of the operation is excited and happy with what he brought to the surface for more examination. “It’s really great,” he added.

In addition to unusual animals, Vescovo saw something familiar – waste, especially plastic, in the deepest part of the water. Andy Sharpness leads Oceana, an environmental group. He called the discovery of waste materials there, “disturbing but not surprising.”

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

stun³ – v. to surprise or upset (someone) very much

actually – adv. used to stress that a statement is true especially when it differs in some way from what might have been thought or expected

disturbing – adj. – worrying, upsetting; from the verb disturb - to worry or upset (someone)

1 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

2 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

3 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

4 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

5 outfitted   

v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They outfitted for the long journey. 他们为远途旅行准备装束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They outfitted him with artificial legs. 他们为他安了假腿。 来自辞典例句

6 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。