[Alan] This is a world first.
It's never been done before. This is a prototype vehicle.
It's never been operated before.
This full-ocean-depth submersible
is the equivalent of a moon shot.
Look at the clarity of the water.
What the hell was that?
[woman] We have at least four species here.
[man] Whoa. Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
We're not getting a seal. That's not good
[Demetri] Humankind has explored
every continent on Earth.
We've climbed its tallest mountains.
And even journeyed into space.
[man] Thank you, Mr President.
But there's a vast swathe of our own planet
that has remained a mystery.
The deep ocean.
Stretching down over 35, 000 feet into crushing pressures,
it's been near impossible to reach.
Until now.
New engineering breakthroughs are driving
an audacious global mission
to dive to the deepest points
of all of the five oceans
for the first time in history.
These pioneers will push technology to the limit...
- [man] He's going up. - [laughs]
[cheering]
[Demetri] ...to open up this final frontier
as never before.
[woman] Trying to mentally put yourself
at the bottom is just mind-blowing.
[Demetri] Mapping hidden landscapes.
Discovering unknown life forms.
[man] What on Earth is that?
[Demetri] And unlocking the secrets
of how life in the extreme deep ocean
affects our entire planet.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Demetri] The Deep Ocean expedition team
are at the very beginning of a year-long mission.
[indistinct radio chatter]
[Demitri] They will head to each of the five oceans,
discover their deepest points
and explore their uncharted depths.
Remarkably, this complex operation
is being driven and financed by one man
with a hugely ambitious dream.
Ex-naval commander
and multimillionaire investor
Victor Vescovo.
[Victor] The exciting thing about the expedition
is the possibility of opening up the oceans
and they do constitute 70% of the world.
[Demetri] Victor has already completed
what is known as the Explorer's Grand Slam,
climbing the tallest peak on each continent
and skiing to North and South Poles.
Now he's bidding to be the first
to conquer a new frontier.
[Victor] I was just curious, I've always wanted
to do something that has never been done before
and then it hit me. No-one has actually been
to the bottom of the five oceans.
[Demetri] The team's first ocean
is one of the most volatile and unpredictable of all.
The mighty Atlantic.
Covering an extraordinary fifth
of the Earth's surface,
it generates some of the most powerful
natural hazards on the planet.
From the kind of deadly icebergs
that sank the Titanic
to devastating hurricanes.
And the Atlantic's unexplored depths
hold enormous dangers of their own.
On average, the Atlantic stretches down
around 11,000 feet.
But the team are now arriving
just off the island of Puerto Rico,
where a mysterious trench is thought to plunge
to a staggering 27,500 feet.
Enough to hold 22 Empire State Buildings
stacked on top of each other.
The pressure at such great depths is immense.
The equivalent for a human body to be crushed
beneath 2,500 pick-up trucks.
For Victor to get there will be a massive challenge.
Any ordinary submarine would simply implode.
So Victor has commissioned a radical new design.
A prototype sub that today is being launched
on a crucial test dive to prove its readiness
for an assault on the Trench itself.
This is the most advanced deep-sea submersible
in history. At this point.
[Demetri] The sub's builder is Patrick Lahey,
whose team have spent the last three and a half years
designing and constructing this engineering wonder.
[Patrick] This full-ocean-depth submersible
is the equivalent of a moon shot
and it has been
the most difficult undertaking of my life.
[Demetri] To combat the enormous pressures
at the bottom of the ocean,
the sub has at its core a perfect sphere,
made of lightweight titanium.
Any imperfection and it would be crushed
like a tin can.
Construction of the sphere
had to be incredibly precise.
Each half was forged separately in the US.
Machined to add super-wide-angle viewports
and an access hatch,
then shipped to a test facility in Russia
that once certified Cold War subs,
home to the only pressure chamber in the world
big enough.
Finally, the sphere was assembled
inside a streamlined casing.
But the expedition isn't just about
getting one man to the bottom of the sea.
The team are also hoping to solve
some of the great mysteries of life in the deep ocean.
On the surface,
the Atlantic is one of the most
varied habitats on Earth.
[Camrin] The marine life of the Atlantic
is pretty remarkable.
From top predators, like the great white shark,
all the way to all the kinds of tropical reef fishes,
big or small,
that many of us have seen underwater with our own eyes.
[Demetri] But what lurks beneath remains
a far more tantalising mystery.
It's easier to explore space
than it is to explore our own deep ocean.
It's very hard for us to communicate
through the water to vehicles.
You also have the pressure.
15,000lb per square inch.
Animals have figured out a way to overcome
and adapt to that pressure,
but we have yet to do that with our vehicle systems.
[Demetri] Could this new sub be the answer?
Being fitted to the exterior
are a set of highly specialised cameras,
designed to bring back the first ever footage
from the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.
These are rated to 11,000 metres.
If it implodes, it's like a small explosion
and it can start a chain reaction.
So, we want to make sure that these housings are solid.
You don't want any water inside them.
You don't want them to implode, either.
That's a lot of pressure
we're gonna be taking them to.
[Demetri] The expedition's revolutionary technology
is about to be put to the test.
Today's target is on a shelf
perched precariously above the deep Trench itself.
[man] The dive site today is quite shallow.
Just to get the sub in the water,
and make sure it's behaving itself.
[man] It's deploying. That's good. Up on the main.
[man] The mission is to make sure
that the sub is truly ready,
because, tomorrow, Victor will be extremely deep
and on his own
and there's no room for error.
[man] Here we go, guys. Whoo!
[Victor] Let's hope we have a nice, uneventful ride.
[Kelvin] Okay. Get that hatch open.
- [Victor] I'm on. Got it. - [Kelvin] All right, Victor.
- Have a good one, man. - [Victor] I'm in!
- [man] Hatch? - Hatch.
[man] Up! Up fast. Up fast!
LF, LF, this is Surface.
- You are clear to dive. - Clear. Enabling thrusters.
Okay, if you've got the starboard camera,
I've got the port.
Roger.
- Confirm the hatch is sealed. - [Patrick] Yeah.
Just a dribble right there.
I'm gonna hang on to it as we head for the interface
just to make sure.
Ohh!
Got a little water coming in
at the forward end of the hatch.
You shouldn't have to do that [bleep].
- I'm not getting a seal. - That's not good.
[Victor] [bleep] This is getting really bad.
I can't get a seal.
I'm trying to shut it off. Okay?
Surface, this is LF.
Be advised we have a leaking hatch.
- What did he say? - [man] The hatch.
- Did you hear what he said? - [man] He's got a leak.
[Demetri] Before taking on
the deepest point in the Atlantic,
the expedition team have launched their prototype sub
on a crucial test dive.
This is LF. We have a leaking hatch. We are aborting.
We are aborting.
I'm gonna go ahead and drop the weights.
LF, Xeno copies.
"Releasing starboard weight."
The weight is off.
[Patrick] Surface, this is LF.
Requesting pick-up.
The only thing we could do under the circumstances
- was abort. - [Victor] Yeah, I agree.
We're not going down with water coming in so fast
we can't control it.
[Kelvin] So, they've aborted the dive.
We'll bring it back on
and try and figure out what's going on there.
[Paul] That's the only danger in a sub is a leak.
You know? In deep water,
uh, you don't have the time to think about that,
you are dead already!
[Demetri] Back on the surface,
and the team face a new challenge.
The waves have picked up,
putting the recovery process under intense pressure.
[Kelvin] Okay, let's get that one tagline on.
[man] We are missing a tagline off one side.
[man] You want to do it or not do it?
[Victor] Let's do it. See if we can.
[man] Come forward. Come forward.
Come ahead. Come ahead.
- Whoa! - Whoa.
[man] Victor. Here, Victor.
[man] You never want to be in between anything,
when you're on the surface of the vessel,
even a small boat and a submersible,
because you can get hit pretty hard.
[Demetri] The Atlantic Ocean has given the team
some harsh lessons.
[Victor] A really disappointing dive.
We were getting water ingress from the hatch,
which we shouldn't have had
and it was just too much.
But, if this was easy,
somebody else would have done it long before.
We're gonna run out of daylight today.
[man] Let's get her in the hangar.
[Kelvin] The hatch is an issue.
Got to figure out how to do that.
[Demetri] With the sub crew under huge pressure
to make precision repairs to the hatch,
the sonar scanning team are beginning their search
for the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.
The expedition ship is newly fitted out
with a cutting-edge, echo-sounding system
that's one of the most powerful in the world.
This is a brand-new system for the vessel
and it is the first time
that this system has been installed
anywhere in the world on any vessel.
[Demetri] By bouncing an 11-mile-wide beam
of sound waves off the ocean floor, the team are building
a remarkably detailed 3D map
of this vast underwater canyon.
The team are also on the look-out for hidden risks
in what is, in fact, a geological danger zone.
The Puerto Rico Trench is an active seismic zone.
There are a number of earthquakes
that have their epicentres in this region.
[Demetri] The Trench is a collision zone
between two of the Earth's giant tectonic plates.
One grinds down beneath the other,
heading into the boiling magma of the Earth's core.
The plates' downward fold
is what forms the deep Puerto Rico Trench.
[Christa] That interaction of the plates
generates lots of earthquakes.
Some days, you can get 40, 50.
And you never know when a large
or a very large earthquake could occur.
[Demetri] Scientists predict that a massive earthquake
here in the future will trigger a deadly tsunami,
with enough force to strike the east coast of America.
The expedition is hoping to gain new insights
into this volatile danger zone
by bringing back rock and sediment samples
from the very bottom of the Trench.
But all now depends on fixing the leaking hatch
and the sub team are working through the night
to find a way to repair it.
I just machined a quarter of a millimetre off the bottom.
All right, I'll jump in there and put 'em in.
I'm gonna go ahead. Want me to close your hatch?
- [Kelvin] I'll get it. - Okay.
[man] All right. Here we go.
It's just coming up to your hatch vent now.
Just lapping over your hatch vent now.
[laughs]
It's all good, man. I got nothing in here so far.
How about that? A quarter of a millimetre did it.
[Demetri] The sub crew are all set
for a second attempt
at a sign-off test dive.
It's 6am and the expedition ship is alive with activity.
As well as making the sub dives,
a key part of the mission is to search for life
in the unexplored reaches of the Trench.
Much is known of the wildlife
visible near the surface of the Atlantic.
Like these curious visitors, a pod of pilot whales.
They spend most of their time in a narrow band
at the very top of the water column
called the Sunlight Zone,
where enough light filters down for plants to grow,
which, in turn, sustain a rich food chain.
But what creatures live far below, in the dark depths?
How do they deal with the pitch black?
And the crushing pressures? And what do they feed on?
In search of answers, the marine biologists
are deploying robotic underwater probes
known as "landers", which will sink to the sea floor.
[Alan] These are the traps. Two on the inside.
[Demetri] Baited traps will try and catch samples
of anything living at the bottom.
There are two cameras on the lander.
One facing this side.
There is one on the other side,
focused at a package of mackerel bait,
for looking at scavenging fish
and the big mobile animals.
[Thomas] It's incredibly exciting to get to areas
we wouldn't normally get the chance to, to get some
high-quality footage of the animals
we have a feeling are down there.
[Demetri] The sub team are also making
their final pre-dive checks,
testing out a component Victor will use
to bring back further vital samples from the deep.
A $300,000 manipulator arm.
We have the hand controller for the manipulator arm.
You're clear to come straight up.
The slave arm duplicates.
It looks good. I think it'll be fine.
[Demetri] At last, the team are ready
to relaunch their prototype sub.
Heading once more for the flat shelf
over 3,000 feet down,
on the edge of the deep Trench.
First, they launch the robotic probes.
Then the sub.
[Kelvin] Right, LF. You're clear to dive.
Clear to dive. Starting to pump in.
[Kelvin] Good luck.
[Victor] Everything is looking good.
Didn't have a drop of water come in.
[Demetri] Beyond 600 feet and the sub enters
the pitch black of the Twilight Zone,
where sunlight barely penetrates
and temperatures plunge.
[Simon] What is amazing is that so many animals
have found a way of not just making a living,
but are thriving.
[Demetri] Like the vicious fangtooth.
It's outsized teeth act like the bars of a cage
to trap any prey it bumps into.
Incredibly, some create their own light,
in a miraculous process called bioluminescence.
[Simon] There is communication going on
using light.
Anglerfish produce light to attract prey.
It's really remarkable the exquisite adaptations
that bioluminescence allows for organisms in the deep.
[Demetri] Now, over 3,000 feet below the surface,
the shelf on the edge of the Trench
comes into view.
You're approaching the bottom. See it?
I think I see it.
[Demetri] Will they encounter new species of the deep,
here, in the mysterious Twilight Zone?
Wow! Look at these glowing things, whatever they are.
- Wow. - It's almost like a light.
[Demetri] On a crucial test dive into the Twilight Zone,
Victor and Patrick now have the seabed in sight.
[Victor] Surface, this is the LF.
Present depth, 1-0-3-1 metres.
At bottom. Repeat. At bottom.
[Demetri] The sub now goes into exploration mode.
Victor has released a series of small weights
to leave the sub neutrally buoyant.
Now he can use two banks of propellers or thrusters
to move in any direction.
But look at the clarity of the water.
Look at the visibility.
It's remarkable.
[Demetri] Swimming into view
comes a strange jelly-like creature,
nicknamed the headless chicken monster.
Look at these glowing things whatever they are.
[Victor] Bioluminescent.
[Demetri] A few hundred feet away,
the robotic probes have also reached the shelf floor.
It's time to see
whether their baited cameras will lure in
any other creatures of the Atlantic Twilight Zone.
The first to arrive
are specialist seabed scavengers.
Hagfish.
[Thomas] They're quite gruesome. They will actually burrow
right into the carcass.
The difficulty in doing that is of course,
you're getting deeper and deeper into the flesh,
you're having trouble breathing.
But they can breathe through their anus to overcome that.
[Demetri] When a passing deep-sea gulper shark
decides to have a hagfish for dinner,
it's in for a nasty surprise.
[Alan] Oh, he went for it! Nice.
There you go, slime. Right there.
That's a hagfish defence response.
If a shark bites the hagfish,
it automatically excretes
all this slime into its mouth.
That slime is full of microfibres,
so, essentially, it chokes the shark.
[Demetri] Remarkably,
hagfish also cover their food in a web of slime
to keep other scavengers away.
[Victor] I really want to try and get to a lander
and use the manipulator.
[Demetri] Up in Mission Control,
the team are using powerful modems
to track the sub and guide them around.
Let's move north. True north. And we'll go 100 metres.
[Victor] 100 metres due north.
Wow. To me, it's almost like a light.
Wait, is that the lander?
Slow down. Yeah, that's the lander.
[Patrick] Oh, yeah, you can see all kinds of critters.
That's awesome! Look, there's a gorgonian there.
[Victor] There's a big fish. I'm not sure what it is.
It is a type of shark,
but not one that you would see in shallow water.
[Patrick] Do you want to try and use the manipulator?
[Victor] Oh, yeah, we can definitely do that.
[Demetri] It's a chance for Victor
to practise picking up samples.
A key task for when he makes his deep dive
into the Trench.
There's your arm. Look, there's your camera.
[Patrick] Whoa-ho.
Now line it up.
What the hell was that?
We just lost the manipulator arm.
[Patrick] Oh, my [bleep].
There goes 300 grand.
[Patrick] Oh, my [bleep].
[Demetri] The arm's auto-release mechanism
has triggered an error.
Ditching it on the seabed.
Without its weight, the sub is now making
a rapid and unplanned ascent.
[Patrick] Surface, the manipulator just parted.
We're on our way up.
Roger that. Left bottom.
With no arm. Thank you.
Well, I don't know where we go from here, Patrick.
We're very early on in the programme
and, when you start having
these secondary systems having issues,
you start having some concern
about the core systems.
Things like life support, flotation,
the integrity of the sphere.
You started wondering, if, you know,
if we really test these things
at 8,000 metres,
are they gonna have a problem
or even a failure?
[Demetri] The sub may be safely back on the surface,
but another huge threat is looming.
During the dive, the waves have grown much larger.
Getting the $35 million sub
hooked on to the ship's crane
is now full of dangers.
[Kelvin] Just hang on. Hang on, buddy!
[bleep]
[man] There you go, there you go! Fantastic!
Up on the main!
[man] Down on this tag.
[man] Whoa.
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[bleep]
[Demetri] A powerful wave has slammed the sub
into the back of the ship
and destroyed an entire bank
of the all-important propellers.
The mounting problems are causing Victor
to have doubts about the entire mission.
[Victor] I'm seriously considering
aborting this mission in Puerto Rico.
It is something I don't want to do,
but it's something we may have to do.
- [man] Look at the thrusters. - [man] What happened there?
[Kelvin] Smashed into the back.
We got a tail wind.
Just skied straight down into the back of the boat.
Absolutely heartbreaking.
Could be game over for this particular trip.
[Demetri] The sub crew need to find a way
to repair their damaged prototype
and convince Victor that it's safe to pilot it
to the bottom of the Atlantic
or the expedition is over.
Meanwhile, the science team
are retrieving their robotic probes,
released remotely from the seabed
and the traps have caught a wonder of the deep ocean.
A monstrous relative of the woodlouse.
The giant isopod.
[Alan] The woodlouse in your house,
you can find at high altitude as well.
They are actually the same as the giant ones
in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean.
So, in terms of a successful colonisation of the planet,
isopods are pretty impressive.
[Demetri] While the scientists continue
to process their finds,
the sonar team have some vital news of their own.
They've identified the precise location
of the very deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.
- 8, 400? - 8, 400, yeah.
It's a real proper target.
It's there.
- You get one shot. - Yeah.
This could be tough.
[Demetri] The site lies
at the western end of the Trench.
An area no-one has identified
as the deepest point before
and a location no-one has ever explored before.
But is the sub ready for this
incredibly dangerous mission?
[man] I'm willing to try anything.
[Demetri] First, the team need to repair
the damaged propellers.
Keep it up there.
Keep the [bleep] thing up there.
[man] Over there.
All right, Hector, stay and watch that thruster.
You're clear to enable thrusters.
[Victor] Thrusters are now enabled.
Beginning thruster test. Ready?
[Kelvin] Roger that. Go ahead.
[man] Yeah, looks good. Whoo!
[Demetri] But can Victor trust the sub
with his life on the deep dive?
[Victor] We're gonna have to make a reasoned judgment
about whether to accept some faith in the team,
that they have solved the major issues.
Just have to make the decision tonight
and then inform the team about what we're gonna do.
[Victor] So, from my own perspective, I feel that
the vessel is safe enough to try and take it down
8, 000 metres and come back up.
If, at any point, I feel like it's unsafe,
I'm gonna drop all the weights I can
and I'm gonna come back up.
It's a calculated risk,
but it's like anything else in life.
So we'll give it a shot.
[Demetri] The countdown has begun to the first ever dive
to the very deepest point of the Atlantic.
Even though Victor has never piloted the sub solo before,
he will make the dive alone.
- Let's do this. - Ready to launch.
Bridge, copy, boats are a go.
Fingers crossed.
[Victor] I am most concerned
about approaching the bottom.
If there is some flaw in the vehicle,
it would happen then,
when the pressures will be the most intense.
[man] Excited. Scared.
Anticipation. All those things.
Godspeed, Victor Vescovo!
[Patrick] You're all happy and secure.
Life support is running.
You're clear to dive.
Thank you. See on the other side.
We're ready to launch. Here we go.
Clear to dive. Starting to pump in.
I think my heart rate just went up a little bit.
Seven metres. Eight metres. Nine metres.
We are descending. We are diving.
[Demetri] Soon, Victor is passing
through the Twilight Zone,
into a mysterious area so completely beyond
any hint of sunlight
that it's known as the Midnight Zone.
There are gelatinous animals there. There are fish.
There are things we don't understand yet or know about.
[Demetri] One of the team's robotic landers
has been deployed into the heart
of the Midnight Zone,
halfway down the slopes of the deep Trench.
Just seconds after hitting the bottom,
a mysterious visitor emerges from the gloom.
Only rarely sighted, an arrowtooth eel,
which can grow up to four feet long.
And, lured from the shadows, an ancient creature
with huge paddle-like fins, which thrived
in shallower waters
at the time of the dinosaurs.
The chimera.
We've just crossed 5,000 metres.
Pretty exciting.
Roger. LF, I have you loud and clear.
[Demetri] Victor is nearing a hugely
significant boundary.
23,000 feet.
The deepest any other manned submersible can go.
If something serious goes wrong,
there's now no hope of rescue.
After about 6,000 metres,
we're pretty much on our own.
[Demetri] This is also the boundary
between the Abyssal Zone
and the deepest zone of all,
the Hadal Zone.
Named after Hades, the ancient
Greek god of the Underworld.
The sub is now enduring crushing pressures
equivalent to the weight of 250 Statues of Liberty.
[beeping]
Something is tripping over here.
What the hell is that?
[beeping continues]
LF, LF, confirm, did you receive my transmission?
[heavy static]
I need my headset.
There's too much noise. What is that [bleep] noise?
[man] Try response.
Response. Response.
I need you to come to all stop.
[muffled voice under static]
[Demetri] The team and Mission Control
haven't heard from Victor
for 15 minutes, since he passed 23,000 feet.
The maximum range for any rescue operation.
[Patrick] There's too much noise.
[heavy static]
What is that [bleep] noise right there?
Victor, can you read me?
[static]
Oh, [bleep].
Okay, I'm going to go to the headset.
Victor, can you read me?
Can you read me?
[Victor] "Roger."
Have you good.
"I will talk louder."
[bleep]
[laughter]
Breathe.
Breathe, breathe.
200 metres to the bottom.
Roger, LF. Have you loud and clear.
[Victor] When you're looking through the viewport,
all you're seeing is black.
Okay, where is it? Where's the bottom?
Where is it?
I'm getting excited.
And then it comes into view.
Oh, my goodness, I can see the bottom!
Wow.
There's the bottom.
Wow! I'm at the bottom.
Surface. Surface.
LF, present depth...
8-5-8-9.
"At bottom."
On bottom. Loud and clear.
- Yeah! - [cheering]
How about that, man?
That's... [bleep] ...great. Huh?
You... [bleep] ...beauties, huh?
[Demetri] Victor has become the first person
to reach the deepest point in the Atlantic,
over five miles below the surface.
The cameras are capturing a landscape
no-one has ever set eyes on before.
[Victor] I'm a long way from home.
It's like I'm on another planet.
The water is barely moving the sediment.
There's no current here.
My hands are getting cold. 17 degrees down here.
[Demetri] The floor of the Trench
is thick with fine particles,
sent into billowing clouds
at a touch of the propellers.
[Victor] Oh, it's all dark now. So...
So much sentiment I can't see outside.
It's black.
[Demetri] It looks lifeless and yet,
bowled along by the sub's blast,
are creatures that can survive
at this extreme frontier of our planet.
Transparent, jelly-like organisms
called holothurians,
which feed off tiny particles
of food they find in the sentiment.
There's also a set of mysterious tracks
crossing the seabed.
But there are more creatures lurking in the shadows.
The baited landers dropped to the seabed
are beginning to lure them into the light.
These shrimp-like organisms, are called amphipods.
High-pressure specialists
and voracious scavengers.
In the pitch dark,
they have a supercharged sense of smell
that can detect food up to half a mile away.
In just minutes, it's a feeding frenzy.
Meanwhile, Victor is making a more sobering discovery.
Oh, wow. Looks like something is dead ahead.
[Demetri] A rusted oil drum.
Although no-one has ever been here before,
human garbage has still found its way
to the bottom of the Atlantic.
[Victor] I totally feel like I'm in a spaceship.
This is wild.
[Demetri] Victor has now been at the bottom for 45 minutes
and, in Mission Control,
there's growing concern for his safety.
We have to stop. For safety reasons.
I don't want him colliding with a [bleep] lander
on his way up.
[Demetri] The landers are due to auto-release
in just a few minutes.
If Victor doesn't leave first,
there could be a damaging collision
that would disable key features of the sub.
[Victor] There's something dead ahead.
Be advised. Lander will be lifting off.
Say again. Keep simple.
Leave bottom. Leave bottom.
[Patrick] Do you copy, LF?
We want you to end the dive before the lander lift-off.
He's pretty close.
[muffled voice under static]
[Victor] Say again.
When he starts talking for more than
four or five words on the radar,
especially if it's not clear words,
I don't understand it and I don't know what to do.
[Demetri] If Victor doesn't leave
before the robotic probes auto-release,
there could be a highly damaging collision.
[Victor] "Surface, say again."
[Patrick] We recommend you leave bottom.
Leave bottom. Over.
There's something there. About one o'clock.
[Patrick] "We recommend you leave bottom."
Leave bottom. Over."
Understood.
Leaving bottom. Leaving bottom.
I just hope the weight releases work.
[suspenseful music playing]
Oh, come on.
Come on.
The surfacing weight was just released.
That's the big moment.
When your heart kind of stops.
I have positive buoyancy.
[Demetri] Just seconds later,
the landers also auto-release.
A collision has been avoided.
Surface, LF.
[Demetri] Positive ascent.
Roger that. Congratulations.
He's gonna be popping up any second.
Yeah, I see him.
Welcome back to the surface, Victor.
Thanks, Patrick.
[Patrick] That was one hell of a dive, sir.
Let's get him on board safe.
Real slow, real slow.
Victor Vescovo!
[cheering and whistling]
[man] Rockstar!
- Thank you. Awesome. - Good job.
- Well done, everyone!
Great job, team!
One down!
[whistling]
[Patrick] It's a great feeling.
Got one. Seeing the bottom of the Atlantic,
first person to do that, that was awesome.
Congratulations.
Thank you, Patrick.
Thanks for training me. [bleep]
Beautiful dive.
Executed, like, to perfection.
[bleep] you,
- I'm so proud of you. - Thank you.
This is now the deepest diving
operational submersible in the world.
We just took it where no-one has ever gone before,
so it's a great feeling.
[Demetri] And, inside the traps
on the robotic probes,
the marine biologists are making
a ground-breaking discovery.
[Christa] We have at least four new species here.
I've never seen that before.
I don't recognise that, at all.
[Demetri] The discovery caps what has been
a remarkable first step
in the team's mission to explore
the extreme frontiers of our planet.
[Victor] We've assembled a team.
Scientific. Sonar. A ship's crew.
We have created this wonderful
mechanism that can explore the deepest parts
of the world's oceans, anywhere, any time.