A STUNNING deep-sea home could be the first step in “making humans aquatic”.
Ocean tech company Deep is hoping to make “a permanent human presence under the oceans” possible as soon as 2027.
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The first step is an underwater habitat called Sentinel, which is designed to house people at depths of 650ft for up to 28 days at a time.
Its creators say this will let people reach the lower limit of the Epipelagic zone – the “deepest point” that sunlight reaches into the ocean.
This is an extreme depth that can’t be reached by humans without expensive and specialised equipment.
But British sea-exploration company Deep says its Sentinel home will let humans reach such depths comfortably – and in relative luxury.
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“We’ve designed Sentinel to be a lovely place to live and work, one that helps people perform at their best,” Sentinel creator Deep explained.
“This means a great night’s sleep, delicious and nutritious food, and a warm and pleasant living environment that doesn’t feel cramped.
“A comfortable habitat is a productive habitat.”
Part of the experience will also be enjoying stunning views of the ocean.
Guests will be able to look out at the deep sea – including through giant windows right at the foot of the bed.
“There’s no point sending people to the bottom of the ocean and not letting them see the majesty of what’s around them,” Deep explains on its website.
“Not only does this make Sentinel an amazing place to live, it encourages ‘incidental science’.
“Those serendipitous discoveries that occur only as a result of sustained observation, and spotting what no one else has seen before.”
According to Deep, the Sentinel is designed to have a service life of about 20 years.
And during that time, it could be dropped in a location, picked back up, and then moved to multiple different locations.
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It means that Sentinel owners don’t have to stick to one spot forever.
They’ll connect to the outside world using a satellite communications buoy – and will take advantage of renewable power.
And Deep also says that each Sentinel habitat will have a “large-scale bio-reactor” for treating waste – which means you won’t need to pop out into the ocean to empty the tank.
The number of people that a Sentinel habitat can hold varies, and Deep says the choice is really yours.
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“The Sentinel System is as suited to short-term, six-crew deployments as it is to 50-crew, multi-nation, semi-permanent research stations,” Deep said.
“And thanks to the modular design, operators can reconfigure, repurpose, and relocate components between – and even during – missions, all without the need to take them up to the surface.”
The habitat also comes in two different pressure modes.
This means that you can set it up for a team of people that know how to dive.
LIVING UNDERWATER – HOW DOES IT WORK?
Here’s how Deep’s director of scientific research Dawn Kernagis explains ‘saturation’…
“The basic principle that allows humans to live underwater is called saturation. Here’s how it works,” Dawn said.
“Once a diver has been at a particular depth for a long enough period of time, their body will become ‘saturated’.
“That means the body has absorbed all of the dissolved gases it’s going to at that pressure.
“The tissues in the body are in equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert gases present in the diver’s breathing gas (for example, nitrogen in air, or helium in heliox).
“The diver will still need to go through a long decompression to safely return to the surface, letting those gases release slowly to minimize the risk of decompression sickness, also known as ‘the bends’.
“But once saturation is reached, the diver can stay at the bottom for days, weeks, and months without needing any additional decompression time.
“All they need is a place to stay down there and the basics to sustain life (food, water, oxygen).”
Picture Credit: Deep
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Or you can have it so that regular people without those same skills can enjoy Sentinel too.
“Sentinel is designed for operation at ambient pressure (matching the surrounding water) or one atmosphere (the average pressure at sea level),” Deep explains.
“Ambient operation allows for the use of Sentinel’s two moon pools for diving excursions, making it perfect for long-term missions by qualified divers.
“One-atmosphere operation enables short visits to Sentinel via submarine transfer, ideal for academics or media professionals without diving qualifications.”
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The company is expected to launch its first habitat as soon as 2027 – but sadly there’s no public info on how much one of Deep’s sea homes will cost just yet.
