Day 74 of Dr. Joseph Dettori’s stay at the Jules Under Sea Pavilion at the bottom of a 30-foot lake in Key Largo was not much different from his first days there since being submerged on May 1. March.
Dettori ate a protein-rich meal of microwaved eggs and salmon, trained with resistance bands, did daily push-ups and took an hour-long nap.
The previous record of 73 days, 2 hours and 34 minutes was set by two Tennessee professors, Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fine, at the same location in 2014.
But Dettori won’t be happy with that number and respawn, as he plans to stay in the lodge until June 9, when he’ll reach 100 days and complete an underwater mission called Project Neptune 100.
The mission combines medical and ocean research with educational outreach and was organized by the Marine Resources Development Corporation, owners of the lodge.
“It’s a limited achievement and I really appreciate it,” said Dettori, an instructor at the University of South Florida. “I’m honored to have it, but we still have more science to do.”
“The idea here is to reside in the oceans of the world, to take care of them by living there and treating them very well,” he added.
Dettori’s research involves daily physiological experiments to observe how the human body responds to long-term exposure to extreme stress.
The outreach portion of Dettori’s mission includes conducting online classes and radio interviews from his underwater digital studio.
In the past 74 days, Dettori has reached 2,500 students through online marine science courses, and more through his regular biomedical engineering classes at the University of South Florida.
And even though he says he loves living under the ocean, one thing he really misses is the sun.
And about that, he says, “The sun was a major factor in my life. I usually go to the gym at five o’clock and then come back to watch the sunrise.”
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