14 DAY TRIAL // In an interview for National Geographic Magazine, explorer James Cameron details what his journey to the bottom of the Mariana Trench made him feel like.
The science-talk concerning James Cameron's historic dive is something people are all too familiar with, seeing how the explorer hasn't been delaying in releasing information about what he came across while diving in this deep part of the western Pacific.
Still, it's nice to also learn that, regardless of his achievements, James Cameron is not all that different to us mere mortals.
While talking to National Geographic Magazine, Cameron reportedly said that, some weeks before his dive, he could not help but think about “all the things that could go wrong.”
It was only on the day of the dive that the fear subsided and made room for “childlike excitement” and sheer calm.
“I won’t say there hasn’t been dread in the past few weeks, thinking about all the things that could go wrong. But right now I feel surprisingly calm,” Cameron said.
The submersible use by the movie director to explore the Mariana Trench had a diameter of just 43 inches, so few can blame him for feeling “like a walnut in its shell.”
“I am wrapped in the sub, a part of it and it a part of me, an extension of my ideas and dreams,” Cameron added.
According to Daily Mail, the expedition only lasted for about three hours because the Deepsea Challenger started leak hydraulic fluid, forcing James Cameron to head for the surface.
“I saw a lot of hydraulic oil come up in front of the port. The port was coated with it.”
If it were not for this leaking, the explorer would've spent at least seven hours at the bottom of the Pacific.
Although he did not succeed in exploring the Mariana Trench for as long as he would've liked, James Cameron says that his expedition had a profound emotional impact on him.
As he put it, “It's really the sense of isolation, more than anything, realizing how tiny you are down in this big vast black unknown and unexplored place.”
Interestingly enough, this daredevil says that he would've liked to come across some legendary sea monsters during his journey, just so that he might impress his audience with his storytelling skills. One can only assume that he is joking.
James Cameron is to appear on the June cover of National Geographic Magazine. The article detailing his experience will be published in the same issue.
Just for the record: the Mariana Trench is about 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon, and a tad deeper than Mount Everest is tall, so odds are the article will make a very interesting read.