# Deepest ever dive finds plastic bag at bottom of Mariana Trench



## micropage7 (May 14, 2019)

An American undersea explorer has completed what is claimed to be the deepest manned sea dive ever recorded -- returning to the surface with the depressing news that there's plastic trash down there.
Victor Vescovo journeyed 10,927 meters (35,853 feet) to the bottom of the Challenger Deep , the southern end of the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, as part of a mission to chart the world's deepest underwater places.
Making multiple trips nearly 11 kilometers, or seven miles, to the ocean floor -- one of them four hours in duration -- Vescovo set a record for the deepest solo dive in history, his team said. The previous record was held by "Titanic" director James Cameron in 2012.
As well as four new species that could offer clues about the origins of life on Earth, Vescovo observed a plastic bag and candy wrappers at the deepest point on the planet.
Details of the voyage, made May 1, were released for the first time on Monday.
Vescovo, a 53-year-old financier with a naval background, tells CNN Travelhis journey to the depths was about testing the limits of human endeavor as much as scientific discovery.

"Going to the extremes I believe is a natural inclination of man," Vescovo he says.
"I think it is a wonderful part of human nature that makes us want to push ourselves to the limits, which has helped propel us as a species to where we are now."

His voyage, in a submersible named The Limiting Factor, is part of a landmark odyssey into the world's watery depths that's being filmed for Discovery Channel -- dubbed the Five Deeps Expedition.
The expedition's mission is to conduct detailed, sonar mapping missions at the five deepest spots in our oceans. As well as the Mariana Trench, it's now completed surveys of the Atlantic Ocean's Puerto Rico Trench, the South Atlantic's South Sandwich Trench and the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean.
Next up is a trip to the bottom of the as-yet unexplored Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean, due to be completed in August 2019.
The ocean depths represent some of the least explored and remote places on the planet. The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.
A key mission objective was to capture video evidence of what was at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, which was first explored in 1960 by oceanographers Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard in submersible called Bathyscaphe Trieste.
"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 says.
Discoveries in the Challenge Deep included "vibrantly colorful" rocky outcrops that could be chemical deposits, prawn-like supergiant amphopods, and bottom-dwelling Holothurians, or sea cucumbers.
The team said its scientists were going to perform tests on the creatures found to determine the percentage of plastics found in them.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/victor-vescovo-deepest-dive-pacific/index.html


----------



## Caring1 (May 14, 2019)

Is that the best picture they could come up with?


----------



## XiGMAKiD (May 14, 2019)

I come to see the plastic bag and disappointed


----------



## R0H1T (May 14, 2019)

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1127960765112176641


----------



## TheLostSwede (May 14, 2019)

Caring1 said:


> Is that the best picture they could come up with?


Manbun pictures are important...


----------



## enxo218 (May 14, 2019)

saw this on the BBC yesterday the narrative on oceanic plastic waste is on the rise...reminds me of the one on oil spills and the penguin pics


----------



## FordGT90Concept (May 14, 2019)

Trash found littering ocean floor in deepest-ever sub dive
					

On the deepest dive ever made by a human inside a submarine, a Texas investor and explorer found something he could have found in the gutter of nearly any street in the world: trash.




					www.reuters.com


----------



## Ebo (May 14, 2019)

All i wanna know is did they bring it back up ?


----------



## Troy210 (May 14, 2019)

that whole #trashtag thing could be taken to new heights..or depths if they collected it.


----------



## Frick (May 14, 2019)

Our technological prowess now even penetrates the deepest ocean!the fish should be celebrating becoming part of a greater whole.


----------



## Jetster (May 14, 2019)

Its only the deepest by 39 ft. The original record set in 1960


----------



## MrGRiMv25 (May 14, 2019)

So that means as humans we've now got rubbish at the highest peaks and lowest troughs on the planet. Only took ~50 years. :/


----------



## erixx (May 14, 2019)

just.... COOL


----------



## phill (May 14, 2019)

Sad and amazing to see   I do wonder what is going to happen with all the plastic we use on this planet but that's for another thread I think...

11 kilometers down in the sea


----------



## Vayra86 (May 14, 2019)

That tune from Little Mermaid somehow got stuck in my head.

Damn it. And then the Dutch version of it too, even worse...


----------



## Deleted member 67555 (May 14, 2019)

Really cool... Really sad.
I really tried to come with something clever to say... This deserves it in two ways. Sigh


----------



## John Naylor (May 14, 2019)

And a black plastic tie holding a fish !


----------



## dirtyferret (May 14, 2019)

shocking since we have a patch of plastic floating in the pacific that is twice the size of Texas (or France if you are in Europe) and it's one of five such patches in the pacific but hey plastic only lasts 500-1000 years before complete decomposition...









						World's largest collection of ocean garbage is twice the size of Texas
					

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,  halfway between Hawaii and California, has grown to more than 600,000 square miles, or twice the size of Texas.



					www.usatoday.com


----------



## FordGT90Concept (May 14, 2019)

Ebo said:


> All i wanna know is did they bring it back up ?


I don't think so.  They were going after rocks and the like.  Not much would learned from a hunk of hard plastic.


----------



## advanced3 (May 14, 2019)

*"Trash found littering ocean floor in deepest-ever sub dive"*

Literally 1 piece......


----------



## NoJuan999 (May 14, 2019)

Let's see...
UN is recently in the news regarding plastic ban and miraculously plastic (which the story says could be metal) is found on the ocean floor.
I would tend toward this being  sensationalist BS.


----------



## erixx (May 15, 2019)

No need for conspiracy, plastic is all over the news (and waters). Just jump on a boat and see it by yourself.

1st question should be: Is this a fake or certified record immersion? (I don't know, not saying it is or not)


----------



## Caring1 (May 15, 2019)

At 11K's down, I couldn't imagine a plastic bag looking like a bag still due to the enormous pressures.


----------



## natr0n (May 15, 2019)

Anywhere a human can travel; Garbage can also travel.


----------



## R-T-B (May 15, 2019)

advanced3 said:


> *"Trash found littering ocean floor in deepest-ever sub dive"*
> 
> Literally 1 piece......



You can find quite a bit more closer to home.  It's symbolic, if you missed that point.



natr0n said:


> Anywhere a human can travel; Garbage can also travel.



Indeed.  The summit at Mt Everest is actaully rather coated in both garbage, and feces.  It's become a serious issue.



Caring1 said:


> At 11K's down, I couldn't imagine a plastic bag looking like a bag still due to the enormous pressures.



Pressure only makes thin things thinner.  You can see how a plastic bag would largely retain it's appearance, as such.



NoJuan999 said:


> Let's see...
> UN is recently in the news regarding plastic ban and miraculously plastic (which the story says could be metal) is found on the ocean floor.
> I would tend toward this being  sensationalist BS.



I wouldn't.  This dive was recorded from begining to end and planned months in advance.


----------



## Jetster (May 15, 2019)

R-T-B said:


> Indeed.  The summit at Mt Everest is actually rather coated in both garbage, and feces.  It's become a serious issue.



And over 200  human remains


----------



## NoJuan999 (May 15, 2019)

R-T-B said:


> I wouldn't.  This dive was recorded from begining to end and planned months in advance.



If the story isn't Sensationalist BS, WHY did they focus on the mention of Plastic instead of the dive itself and the possible 4 new species he discovered.
And according to his team they don't really know what it was that he actually saw:


> His team later said tests were ongoing to determine what exactly he saw, but it's believed to be man made.


----------



## juiseman (May 15, 2019)

Why didn't they capture the creatures and study them?
Seems kind of wasteful to go that deep and come back with something...


----------



## Gasaraki (May 15, 2019)

advanced3 said:


> *"Trash found littering ocean floor in deepest-ever sub dive"*
> 
> Literally 1 piece......



So a piece of trash is not trash...?


----------



## NoJuan999 (May 15, 2019)

Here's A Non-Sensationalist version of the same story:








						Explorer Reaches Bottom of the Mariana Trench, Breaks Record for Deepest Dive Ever
					

Explorer and businessman Victor Vescovo descended 35,853 feet (10,927 meters) into the Pacific Ocean last week, breaking the record for deepest dive ever.




					www.livescience.com
				




Notice how the story actually focuses on the dive and the species he discovered versus the possible piece of plastic.


----------



## R-T-B (May 15, 2019)

NoJuan999 said:


> WHY did they focus on the mention of Plastic instead of the dive itself and the possible 4 new species he discovered.



"BS" implies untrue.  It's true.  That being said...

It's symbolic.  Some of us care about the spread of pollutants to the most extreme places on earth.

That, and new species in an unknown region like this are expected, plastic bags are not.



juiseman said:


> Why didn't they capture the creatures and study them?
> Seems kind of wasteful to go that deep and come back with something...



I believe they did.  Or was it minerals?  I forget.



NoJuan999 said:


> And according to his team they don't really know what it was that he actually saw:



That's called proper science.  I'd be very surprised if it's not what they suspect.


----------



## NoJuan999 (May 15, 2019)

R-T-B said:


> "BS" implies untrue.  It's true.  That being said...
> 
> It's symbolic.  Some of us care about the spread of pollutants to the most extreme places on earth.
> 
> ...



I said BS because the person who wrote that article has NO idea if it is plastic or metal or rock or something else.
Focusing a story on Possible facts and Not actual facts is BS and sensationalism.
No it has NOT been proven to be true that the item in question is plastic and probably won't be unless they collect and test the item that may or may not be plastic or metal or rock or something else.

And a Proper scientific story would be one like the one I linked to, NOT the one in the OP that focuses mainly on one small (Not proven to be plasctic) item and not what is scientifically important.

FYI:


> sen·sa·tion·al·ism
> /senˈsāSHənlˌizəm/
> _noun_
> noun: *sensationalism*
> ...



PS
If you are really concerned with plastic pollutants in the Ocean you should read this:








						Infographic: The Countries Polluting The Oceans The Most
					

Annual metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste and total amount ending up in global waters




					www.statista.com


----------



## juiseman (May 15, 2019)

https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting-the-oceans-the-most/​
"estimated 3.53 million metric tons of it ending up in the ocean"
I hate statistics. Its not true math or science; just speculation based on 
a small sample of data.

I always wonder where they get those numbers from?

Did they test each plastic to find that it was in fact from China?

or Was it all of the plastic shit that other countries buy from China; then
dump it in the ocean? 

Does China keep track and publically publish "this year we dumped X-amount of plastic waist"

How can this be science? All statics are a small sample of data; then making up the rest of the numbers out of that small sample of data.

if they only can verify 1/1000TH of the origin of the trash; what about the rest?
Basically stereotyping, estimation, opinion & B.S. propaganda in my opinion...call it that.

Don't call it scientific factual data.  

I'm not some China sympathy guy; but lets be fair....I want to 
take a guess and say that was published from a US site? Correct?​


----------



## NoJuan999 (May 15, 2019)

Obviously stats can be manipulated to suit just about any view point.
I was simply pointing out that there are Millions of tons of plastic dumped into the oceans.
And historically it has mostly come from South East Asian countires due to their lack of waste management.

I can say from personal experience traveling the Pacific Ocean (from California to Guam and quite a few islands in between) in the 1980's it was a big problem then and it still is.


----------



## juiseman (May 15, 2019)

Yea, I 100% agree with that. Nothing against what you posted; or personal. 
I bet they do dump tons of waist. ..cant say for I've never been out of the US..

I just find most statistics inaccurate In general. 
I've always hated them for some reason.....
Its a personal thing I guess...


----------



## advanced3 (May 15, 2019)

Gasaraki said:


> So a piece of trash is not trash...?



I am just pointing out the sensationalized headline that's clearly embellishing the one piece of (trash?) that's "littering the ocean floor".... if that's what it even is.

I would be more concerned about the enormous amount of space trash that's orbiting the planet first.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (May 15, 2019)

*"Trash found littering ocean floor in deepest-ever sub dive"*
Gypo's they get everywhere.


----------



## R-T-B (May 16, 2019)

NoJuan999 said:


> I said BS because the person who wrote that article has NO idea if it is plastic or metal or rock or something else.
> Focusing a story on Possible facts and Not actual facts is BS and sensationalism.
> No it has NOT been proven to be true that the item in question is plastic and probably won't be unless they collect and test the item that may or may n



It is pretty likely a plastic bag.  No, we haven't chemically tested it, but if it looks like a rose, smells like one etc...  it really isn't a tricky visual ID to perform.



NoJuan999 said:


> Focusing a story on Possible facts and Not actual facts is BS and sensationalism.



I do not agree.  It may be sensationalist (but as a journalist I'd say it still passes the "need to know" test) but it really does not make it BS.  The two terms imply seperate things and conflating them is sensationalist in it's own right.



advanced3 said:


> I am just pointing out the sensationalized headline that's clearly embellishing the one piece of (trash?) th



No one is really arguing the harm of this piece of trash, no one would say it's very dangerous.  It is however a good symbol of mankinds reach via pollution, and some of us do care about that.  Sensationalism need not apply.


----------



## Caring1 (May 16, 2019)

Gasaraki said:


> So a piece of trash is not trash...?


Correct, it is *A *piece of trash, the sensationist headline implies trash is literally covering the ocean floor, ie littering.


----------



## OSdevr (May 16, 2019)

Whatever it was I wish they brought it up. It's probably been down there and under pressure for some time, figuring out what it was, how old it was, and what shape it's in could have been interesting.


----------

