A professor who lived underwater for 100 days in a bid to use himself as a human science experiment detailed the shocking effect it had on his body.
Dr Joe Dituri, of the University of South Florida, decided to see just how far he could push his own body and the results were incredible.
Otherwise known as 'Dr Deep Sea', Dr Dituri wanted to make the sea his temporary 'habitat' for a few months in 2023.
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Why did Dr Dituri go underwater in the first place?
Dr Dituri began his bizarre experiment on 1 March 2023, for a first-of-its-kind biology study, which would see his body be tested to see how it faired underwater.
In an official press release from the University of South Florida, Dr Dituri was hoping to find 'ways to revive marine environments'.
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The researcher also wanted to 'test medical technology that could prevent a myriad of diseases in people'.
‘But’ the release explained, ‘there’s one catch: he’s doing it all 30 feet underwater - and he's trying to do it for 100 days’.
What was the underwater experiment about?
The retired US Navy Commander-turned-professor swam into his new 100-square foot habitat approximately 'two-thousandths of a league under the sea' at Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo.
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The professor then began to live in 'isolation' for the entire duration of the mission, which has since been titled 'Neptune 100'.
The release explained: "Part of the work will see a psychologist and a psychiatrist monitor the effects he experiences while in an environment similar to extended space travel.
"It's an isolating confined extreme environment. And as humans, we really need to figure out how we're going to be living in that (environment) if we're going to expand our planet, if we're going to go interplanetary, if we're going to find all the cures that we need to find."
What happened when Dr Dituri was underwater?
According to the professor, the experience underwater made him 'younger'.
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The scientist closely monitored how the long-term extreme pressure was affecting him and, when he wasn't working on that, he taught school kids online from his watery digs.
Just one month into his experiment, Dr Dituri and his team even discovered a species - a single-celled organism that is now being studied by microbiologists.
Talking to The Independent at the time from his underwater tank room, Dr Dituri said: "We believe [it] is a brand-new species to science.
"People have dived in this area thousands and thousands of times - it’s been here, we just didn’t look."
What effects did being underwater have on Dr Dituri when he came out?
When he resurfaced in June 2023, he went on to claim that a lot of areas of his health had improved, including longer telomeres - which are structures on chromosomes that are often linked to extending life.
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Dr Dituri told WKMG News in Orlando: "I'm 56 now. My extrinsic [biological] age was 44. When I got out of the water, my extrinsic age was 34.
"So, my telomeres lengthened. I actually got younger when I was under the water."
When he emerged from his underwater mission, Dr Dituri claimed that blood tests showed a 50 percent reduction in every inflammatory marker in his body.
He also managed to become the Guinness World Record holder for the most days spent living underwater, beating the old record of 73 days.
In November, Dr Dituri appeared on America Medicine Today and shared what he thought about living underwater now that it’s 2024.
He wrote as a caption to the posted clip on Instagram: “How did we come up with the idea of living underwater for 100 days? The answer lies in our curiosity and the endless possibilities that the ocean holds.
“There is so much to explore and so much that remains unknown. Remarkably, a partial cure for Alzheimer’s was discovered at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and we had no idea it was there.
“Our journey is driven by the pursuit of knowledge and the hope that the depths of the ocean may hold solutions to some of humanity’s greatest challenges.”
Britt Jones