Caladan
Expeditions
Completes
Expedition to
Calypso Deep
Written by: Tina Barrera
For only the second time in
history, a human-crewed
expedition to the Calypso
Deep in the Mediterranean
Ocean was completed by His
Serene Highness Prince Albert II
of Monaco and sub-pilot and
explorer Victor Vescovo who
reached a maximum depth
of 5109 meters +/- 1 meter,
completing the second phase (of
five) of Caladan Oceanic’s 2020
deep-diving expeditions.
First visited 55 years ago by
Captain Gérard Huet de
Froberville, Dr. Charles “Chuck” L.
Drake (USA), and Henri Germaine
Delauze on September 27, 1965,
this recent expedition to the
maximum depth validated the
findings of the first human-crewed
mission and concluded an error
ration.
At the depths, the explorers were
able to study the marine fauna
but unfortunately also witnessed
increasingly alarming signs of
human contamination in the form
of plastic bags and other debris
that littered the ocean floor even
at that depth.
Representatives from the
companies partnered in the
expedition. The explorers
themselves voiced their distress
by stating that the presence of
plastic contaminants at such
remote depths provides evidence
of the extent of pollution that
has spread across the world is
negatively affecting ecosystems
at even the most sheltered
locations.
The mission was carried out
using the world’s only certified,
full ocean depth submersible,
the DSV Limiting Factor, a Triton
July 2020
Polo De’Marco