On June 1, 2014, ocean conservationist and documentary filmmaker Fabien Cousteaugrandson of the emblematic Jacques Costeauplunged into the depths of the Florida Keys. Along with him were six other companions, with whom he lived on board an underwater laboratory: the Aquarius. Thus began the Mission 31in which, as its name suggests, they spent a month filming the fauna of the ocean floor and studying the impact of underwater life in humans. Such was the repercussion of that mission, with which Cousteau beat for one day the record set by his grandfather in 1963that now the documentalist wants to go further, with the construction of what would be the equivalent to the International Space Stationl, at the bottom of the sea: the submarine station Proteus.
The project was presented last September 30 at the Space and Underwater Tourism Universal Summit (SUTUS), held in Marbella, Malaga. There, Cousteau himself discussed both Mission 31 and the plans with Proteus, a base where the aquanauts, equivalent to astronauts in space, will be able to carry out experiments of all kinds, aimed at both the conservation of marine ecosystems and the understanding of many phenomena on Earth and in space. In addition, it will also be able to host private tourism projects, similar to the spacial tourism which is already beginning to spread beyond the confines of our planet.
At the moment there is no date for the release of this submarine station, for which funding is still being sought. However, the plans for its operation are very outlined.
Proteus: a unique project
Cousteau and his team spent 31 days underwater, although halfway through the expedition some of them were relieved. He even let a few days go by VIP publicas the father and sister of documentary filmmaker and actor Ian Somerhalder.
At that time alone, the ocean entrepreneur and conservationist observed that marine animals they got used to his presence and that of the rest of the crew. Therefore, he decided that it would be interesting to build an entire submarine station in which the stays could be much longer. They could even reach “months or longer.”
It would be a station made up of several modules, with dimensions 10 times larger than those of the Aquarius. The aquanauts would receive the same training as the astronauts, in order to prepare them to live in this extreme environment, but there would also be room for shorter stays in the field of private tourism. The air pressure it would be controlled so that the stay was safe and the greatest possible number of people would be accommodated.
As for the construction site, Cousteau remarks that it has only been explored 5% of the oceans. Because of that, it really could be built anywhere. Even so, for the first modules they have chosen a point in the Caribbean near a coral reef. They have chosen this point in order to check the evolution of the ecosystem and the effect of human activities on it.
What would be done in the submarine station?
As we have already seen, the objective of the submarine station would be similar to those of the International Space Station. There are many experiments, although Cousteau exposed some examples in his intervention in SUTUS.
“60% of the oxygen on Earth is generated in the ocean, so it is important to study it. In addition, we have to be able to study water patterns, plate movements, etc. On the other hand, the studies of aquanauts will be aimed at saving life and marine biodiversity, while supporting the research of those of us on earth: there are many things we can study about human physiology and psychology. in these extreme environments.”
Fabien Cousteau, businessman, ocean conservationist and documentary filmmaker
In fact, those extreme environments can also be a good place to astronaut training much more accessible than space. That is, to go through being aquanauts before becoming astronauts.
In short, the tasks of Proteus will be very varied. And all this without counting the excursions of tourists who could go on a dive for a few hours, ending precisely with a visit to the submarine station. The future is here. And, after the talks at SUTUS, neither a space hotel nor an underwater station seems as exclusive to science fiction as it did a few years ago.