US researcher breaks record for living underwater without depressurization

A US researcher has set a new world record for the longest time spent living underwater without depressurisation. Joseph Dituri has spent more than 74 days at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lagoon in Key Largo, Florida. The previous record of 73 days was established in 2014 by two professors in the same Key Largo lodge.

For his project, called Project Neptune 100, the University of South Florida professor is studying how the human body reacts to long-term exposure to extreme pressure. While underwater, he is also teaching his biomedical engineering classes online. Prof Dituri plans to stay in Jules’ Undersea Lodge for at least 100 days.