Expedition to the deepest part of the Red Sea - video

Victor Vescovo of Caldalan Oceanic together with Mohammed A. Aljahdli of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) became the first people to reach the bottom in the deepest part of the Red Sea. The plunge was carried out to a depth of 2777 metres, in a place known as the Suakin Basin.

The underwater descent was carried out in the DSV Limiting Factor vehicle, which Victor Vescovo has used on his previous expeditions to the deepest places on Earth. This time, as well as diving to the deepest point in the Red Sea, the Kebrit Deep (depth 1470 metres) was also visited, where there are extremely important saline lakes.

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The expedition in the still not very well explored waters of the Red Sea consisted of two immersions. The first took place in the deepest point of the Red Sea – the Suakin Trough, during which the vehicle was crewed by Victor Vescovo and Mohammed A. Aljahdli of KAUST, while the second in the Kebrit Deep was performed by Vescovo and Dr Alan Jamieson of Newcastle University.

Both the Suakin Trough and the Kebrit Deep exhibit extremely unique characteristics, as both have saline lakes located on the seabed that have a much different character than the seawater above them. Their edges clearly cut off and these unusual ‘basins’ are perfectly visible underwater, where ordinary seawater meets ultra-dense saline pools.

The pools at these locations average around 10 metres deep. It was also noted that “chimneys” encrusted with minerals and sponges surround the “shorelines” of the pools in the Kebrit Deep, although none of them appeared to be active. The team also dived into the caldera of an extinct submarine volcano in the Suakin Basin to study its unique geology.

“As we continue this year’s expedition to explore the Indian and Pacific Oceans, we hope to explore as many new areas as possible. With our extraordinary vehicle, we want to explore as much as possible of the 90% of the underwater world that is still unexplored,” Vescovo said.

The next phase of the Caladan 2020 ocean expeditions is an expedition in collaboration with Nekton, which will target deep waters in the Indian Ocean, around the Seychelles and Maldives. The whole project will be carried out as part of Nekton’s First Descent programme.

^{Source: caladanoceanic.com}