A Florida professor dubbed “Dr. Deep Sea” broke the world record on Sunday for the longest amount of time living underwater.
Joseph Dituri, who teaches biomedical engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), has stayed at the Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo for 74 days and counting, according to a USF press release.
He beat the previous record of 73 days and has a stated goal of living below sea level for 100 days total. Mr. Dituri’s experiment, called “Project Neptune 100,” is sponsored by the Marine Resources Development Foundation.
“The curiosity for discovery has led me here,” Mr. Dituri wrote in a tweet commemorating the new record. “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.”
The professor’s residence is a 100-square-foot room that sits 30 feet below the water’s surface in the Emerald Lagoon. Mr. Dituri told the Florida Keys News Bureau that he wakes up at 5 a.m. to exercise and eats a diet rich in protein.
The professor also told USF that he missed out on his daughter’s college graduation to carry out his experiment.
He took on this feat to advance research on how hyperbaric pressure can affect the body. Mr. Dituri hypothesized that the pressure can be used to increase blood flow to the brain, which would then allow it to help treat traumatic brain injuries and other diseases.
Physicians are gathering data on Mr. Dituri’s health while he lives underwater and will compare those results with his condition once he returns to the surface.
While underwater, the professor is teaching a course on hyperbaric medicine for the university’s Maymester.
Mr. Dituri, who served in the Navy for nearly three decades, originally began his undersea stay on March 1. He plans to resurface on June 9.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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