Antarctic Project-100: Russian divers reach the world record

Russian divers from Kazan (CH Tatarstan) will perform an unprecedented deep dive off the Antarctic coast.

Members of the "Southern Antarctic-100" expedition under the Russian Geographic Society will dive to a depth of hundreds of meters below the surface. In this area no one has ever done so. The action target is not only to set a deep diving record but also to study the hydraulic system of the southernmost ocean. At these latitudes, if diving at a depth of 20 meters is considered safe. In the Antarctic ocean, the Russians will pioneer - before they ever had anyone to do anything like that, - project coordinator "Antarctic 100" , Sergei Saleev explained to radio correspondent " Sputnik ".

'Developing human abilities is one of the goals of the expedition. Now the level of diving up to 100 meters seems to be unrealistic for us. But in the near future through the expedition as we are about to proceed, people will feel that 100 meters of deep water is normal. '

Flickr.com/Rita Willaert / cc-by-nc

Russian divers plan to set a record in the area near the Russian Polar Station "Bellingshausen" on King George Island. According to the coordinator of the "Antarctic 100" project , the dive will take place within 3-4 days, while some time will take care of preparing and finding the right place.

'The exact location will be determined by safety. If you do that near the shore, there will be many birds and predators. In addition, we will choose where we can sample and test equipment at a depth of about 100 meters'.

The current expedition is the third phase of the "Extreme Cold" project, the aim of the project is to study the underwater ecosystem of the North and South Pole, developing a diving method in extreme conditions. The first phase was devoted to studying the unique lakes of the Yakutia region, having set up two world records for deep diving in the extreme cold. "Cold to the point of cramps" , - a diver recounts. my feelings at that time. This time, the depth was even bigger - not 60 meters but 100 meters. What situations will be experienced, no one knows beforehand. "The boys have accepted the task in the form of experiments," the project coordinator said. - They need to note the status of their bodies - before, during and after deep diving.

The first test is scheduled for December 10. The conquerors of the South Pole intend to return home to the new year. Divers bring the Koran, Toru, Holy Orthodox Holy Lady of Kazan to the body and symbol of cooperation between peoples and religions. Because members of the expedition are people from different ethnic groups and beliefs.