By AFP - Agence France Presse
In search of a new way of life at the bottom of the sea - and a world record
Juan José Rodríguez
There are probably easier ways to set a world record, but Rudiger Koch has found his method 11 meters under the sea.
He has been living in a submerged capsule off the coast of Panama for two months - which means, he told an AFP journalist who visited him, that he still has two months to go.
“Last time I checked, I was still married,” he joked, as fish swam in the bright blue Caribbean waters outside the portholes.
But Koch, a 59-year-old German aerospace engineer, has grander plans than simply breaking a record. His feat, he says, could change the way we think about human life - and where we can settle, even permanently.
“Going into the ocean is something we should do as a species,” he told AFP.
“What we're trying to do here is prove that the seas really are a viable environment for human expansion.”
Koch's 30-square-meter capsule has most of the trappings of modern life: a bed, bathroom, TV, computer and internet - even an exercise bike.
The only thing missing? A shower.
His home at the bottom of the sea is connected by a vertical tube to another chamber situated above the waves, which houses other members of his team - and provides a way to send food and curious journalists.
The underwater chamber, in turn, serves as a shelter for fish and acts as an artificial reef, providing an environmental benefit.
“At night, you can hear all the crustaceans,” he said. “There are fish out there, and there are all these things, which weren't here before we came.”
- A window to the sea -
On a small bedside table is Jules Verne's “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”, a classic of 19th century science fiction.
An admirer of the novel's Captain Nemo, Koch, who went down on September 26, hopes to catch his breath on January 24, beating the record of American Joseph Dituri, who spent 100 days submerged in a Florida lake, by 20 days.
Two clocks show how much time has passed - and how much is left.
A narrow spiral staircase leads to the chamber above, the whole contraption located about 15 minutes by boat from the coast of Puerto Lindo, north of Panama.
Four cameras film his movements in the capsule - capturing his daily life, monitoring his mental health and providing proof that he never rose to the surface.
Israeli Eial Berja operates them from the upper section, while taking care of the electricity and the backup generator.
It's not all smooth sailing, he told AFP, noting that a heavy storm almost put an end to the project.
Outside of the media, Koch's only visitors have been his doctor, his children and his wife.
Eke is supporting the project with Grant Romundt from Canada. Both he and Koch have grander visions linked to the libertarian - and sometimes controversial - “seasteading” movement, which envisions ocean-based communities outside government control.
Although he still has a long way to go to get back to the surface, Koch knows exactly what he'll do first when he's back on dry land: “a bath, a real bath”.
jjr/mis/lab/liu/nro/bjt
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