For centuries, humanity has gazed skyward, dreaming of colonizing other planets and escaping the confines of Earth. Headlines often trumpet ambitious plans for lunar or Martian bases. Yet, another equally challenging frontier, much closer to home, is rapidly gaining attention: the ocean floor. As the drive to establish human outposts beyond our terrestrial bounds intensifies, a growing number of explorers and innovators are looking down, not up.
From Space Stations to Subaquatic Sanctuaries
The idea of living in extreme environments isn’t entirely new. Since 2001, NASA has been utilizing the Aquarius Reef Base, a research facility located 20 meters (approximately 65 feet) off the Florida coast, to train aquanauts, engineers, and even prospective astronauts. These missions, typically lasting 7-14 days, provide invaluable insights into human adaptation to isolated, high-pressure environments.
The similarities between space and subsea exploration are striking. Astronauts have spent over 300 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), with cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov holding the record for 437 days on Russia’s Mir station. However, long-duration space stays often come with health concerns like reduced bone density and muscle atrophy. This begs the question: what are the prospects for long-term underwater living?
Unveiling the Health Benefits of Deep-Sea Dwellings
While the bank of evidence is still small, preliminary findings from extended underwater stays are remarkably promising.
Take Rudiger Koch, a German aerospace engineer, who spent an impressive 120 days living 11 meters (36 feet) beneath the Caribbean Sea between 2024 and 2025. Upon resurfacing, Koch reported no health concerns, celebrating with champagne and a cigar.
Even more astonishing are the findings from Professor Joseph Dituri’s 100-day stay in a lodge 9 meters (30 feet) deep in a Florida lagoon. Dituri meticulously tracked his physical and psychological health, not only emerging without issues but actually showing significant improvements. He noted better sleep, reduced cholesterol and inflammation, increased stem cell count, and enhanced testosterone and cognitive performance. Incredibly, his biological age was found to be 10 years younger than his chronological age. The only downside? A slight height reduction of just over 1cm due to the pressurized environment.
Deep: Forging the Future of Underwater Habitats
These individual case studies, while encouraging, underscore the need for more extensive research into the long-term effects of deep-sea living. This is where Deep, a pioneering British ocean technology and exploration company, steps in. With an ambitious goal of establishing a permanent human presence beneath the ocean by 2027, Deep is developing cutting-edge habitats for extended subsea stays. They’ve even acquired a flooded quarry in Gloucestershire as a test bed for their innovative designs.
Deep is currently focused on two primary habitat modules:
- The Vanguard: A smaller module designed for three people on shorter, exploratory dives.
- The Sentinel: A 16-meter (52-foot) capsule envisioned as a long-term underwater research facility. Equipped with living spaces, bedrooms, and advanced research amenities, the Sentinel will allow researchers to reside at depths of up to 200 meters (656 feet) for periods of 28 days.
The primary objective of these habitats is to enable researchers to spend significantly longer periods studying the ocean floor and the intricate biological and psychological impacts of underwater habitation.
Overcoming the Challenges: Saturation Diving
Reaching and sustaining human presence at such depths presents unique challenges, particularly concerning decompression sickness (DCS), commonly known as ‘the bends.’ As Dr. Dawn Kernagis, Deep’s director of scientific research, explains, “The risky part for a diver is going down and coming back up. They’re breathing compressed gas and the pressure is changing, increasing the risk of decompression sickness (DCS), where bubbles can form in the blood.”
To mitigate this risk, Deep employs the principle of saturation diving. This technique involves keeping researchers in a “saturated” state, where their bodies have fully absorbed the dissolved gases at a particular pressure, essentially achieving a new underwater equilibrium. As Dr. Kernagis notes, “Saturation tanks, like the ones we’re building, allow divers to go to these lower depths and stay there much longer because they can adjust to the pressure. This takes their time [at these depths] from hours to a month or so.”
The Dawn of a Modern Atlantis?
Deep plans to meticulously monitor the researchers staying in the Sentinel, gathering crucial data on the long-term physical and psychological ramifications of deep-sea living. These initial stays will lay the foundation for progressively longer missions – from weeks to months, and potentially even years.
While the notion of human colonies beneath the waves might sound like science fiction, companies like Deep are rapidly turning it into a tangible reality. The prospect of living in a modern-day Atlantis, unlocking the mysteries of the deep, and potentially even discovering new ways to thrive, is no longer just a dream – it’s becoming an achievable frontier.
