Diving in America, Scuba Diving Destinations

First shots from the Mariana Trench

Listen to this article The first dust has settled after the famous director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Now everyone is asking themselves, what did the American see in the deepest place on Earth? Although Cameron was the third man (previously aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste, accomplished by Don

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: March 28, 2012 - 18:37

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 05:59

Listen to this article

The first dust has settled after the famous director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Now everyone is asking themselves, what did the American see in the deepest place on Earth?

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Although Cameron was the third man (previously aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste, accomplished by Don Walsh and Jaques Piccard) in history to descend to a depth of almost 11km, he is the one who has seen the most.

In the 1960 mission in which Walsh and Piccard became the first people at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, they didn’t see much. Nor is there any photograph of their stay at the bottom. The reason was prosaic. As the bathyscaph sank to the bottom, it stirred up clouds of sediment, drastically reducing visibility for a long time.

Unmanned boats, on the other hand, have another problem. Radio communication is not possible at such depths, so remote-controlled vehicles have no right to exist. On the other hand, a cable more than 11km long is a serious impediment to manoeuvring a device connected at its end.

So as you can see for yourself, James Cameron’s mission, was to provide the first clear images of this amazing place. We won’t keep you in suspense any longer, here they are…

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.