A University of South Florida professor has spent nearly 80 days in an underwater hotel located 30 feet under the sea — and he plans to keep going until he reaches 100.
Joseph Dituri, a 55-year-old associate professor at USF, surpassed the record for the longest time spent living underwater without depressurization on May 14th, as he has been residing in Key Largo’s famed Jules’ Undersea Lodge.
Situated at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon, the hotel is only accessible through diving and features your basic amenities like beds, a private bathroom, well stocked kitchen, TV and WiFi. You can even get pizza delivered!
Dituri, who also goes by the name “Dr. Deep Sea,” set off to the underwater home on March 1st to break the Guinness World Record. The previous record was set at the same hotel for 73 days in 2014 by Tennessee professors Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain.
“The curiosity for discovery has led me here,” Dituri wrote in a tweet. “My goal from day 1 has been to inspire generations to come, interview scientists who study life undersea and learn how the human body functions in extreme environments.”
During the underwater mission, called Project Neptune 100, researchers have been routinely diving in and out of the lodge monitoring Dituri’s physical and mental health. Unlike a submarine, the hotel does not use technology to adjust for the increased underwater pressure, and is approximately 100-square-feet, the size of two king beds.
While underwater, the professor continues to teach his students virtually, according to USF. To stay full and keep busy, he eats protein-heavy meals such as eggs and salmon prepared using a microwave, exercises with resistance bands and does daily pushups.
At the end of his 100 days, Dituri told Business Insider, “I can tell you when I resurface that I’m going to go see the sunset because that’s the one thing I miss the most.”
