Filmmaker James Cameron handed over the keys to his recently finished DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution last week.<\/p>\n
Cameron recently completed a dive in the sub to explore the deepest parts of the Mariana Trench. \u00a0During the dive, Cameron took the sub down 35,787 feet beneath the surface.<\/p>\n
Cameron has been working closely with WHOI for many years during movie production and his own deep sea excursions.<\/p>\n
When his team was building the sub, Cameron said WHOI was building the submersible Nereus. He said that the two subs were on different build paths. \u201cSo, we gave each other great encouragement and kind of split up to go solve problems,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cWhen I got down there (to the bottom of the Mariana Trench), I saw tracks on the ground that were probably from Nereus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron emphasized the importance of a combined technological effort to learn and understand the world\u2019s oceans. \u201cThe key to ocean exploration, we believe, is human-occupied vehicles working in concert with autonomous vehicles, with remotely operated vehicles, with distributed instrument systems on the sea floor,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of these tools have to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n