Florida's 'Dr. Deep' Resurfaces After a Record 100 Days Living Underwater

A Florida professor known as “Dr. Deep” has resurfaced after spending a record 100 days living underwater
KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — A university professor who spent 100 days living underwater at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers resurfaced Friday and raised his face to the sun for the first time since March 1.

Dr. Joseph Dituri set a new record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization during his stay at Jules' Undersea Lodge, submerged beneath 30 feet (9.14 meters) of water in a Key Largo lagoon.

The diving explorer and medical researcher shattered the previous mark of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes set by two Tennessee professors at the same lodge in 2014.

“It was never about the record,” Dituri said. “It was about extending human tolerance for the underwater world and for an isolated, confined, extreme environment.”

Dituri, who also goes by the moniker “ Dr. Deep Sea,” is a University of South Florida educator who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and is a retired U.S. Naval officer.