SEA AND OCEAN EXPLORATION

Deepest Point on the Planet

Billionaire adventurer Richard Branson on April 8, 2011 announced a risky plan to send a one-man submarine to the deepest point in the earth: Marina Trench (36,200 ft) located in the Pacific Ocean near Guam. In 1960, a two-man submarine explored the maximum depth (35,797 ft) at the Marina Trench.

Some of the Key Features

* 1083 ft: World record for the deepest scuba dive

* 5280 ft: Deepest Angler fish found

* 9800 ft: Deepest recorded dive by a sperm whale, the deepest diving of all mammals

* 12506 ft: Resting place for RMS Titanic

* 21325 ft: Maximum depth of the Japanese submersible Shinkai

* 29035 ft: Height of Mount Everest

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Search and Rescue Operation Ramped up as Every Hour Matters 

In a captivating search-and-rescue operation trying to find a submersible and rescue its crew and passengers, U.S. Coast Guard and other rescue agencies are sending equipment and personnel to North Atlantic Ocean. On June 18, 2023 around 6:30AM local time, Titan with five people--Stockton Rush, pilot and CEO of the exploration operator, OceanGate; British adventurer Hamish Harding; French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet; Pak business mogul Shahzada Dawood; and his teenage son, Suleman--submerged to explore the area where Titanic had been resting for more than a century. Soon after, outside world lost contact with Titan, leading to a massive search operation encompassing a large swath of the foggy and stormy area of North Atlantic. At least two robotic equipment are sweeping through near the ocean floor in that vast desolate area. The submersible has 96-hour supply of oxygen, implying that oxygen can be depleted as early as June 22, 2023, morning. There are numerous complaints about the reliability and safety of the submersible operated by OceanGate, and there has been a lawsuit filed in 2018 by the then-company's Director of Marine Operation David Lochridge. 

Titan Reported to have been Imploded; Five Lost in the Ocean

Authorities on June 22, 2023 divulged the tragic news to the world that Titan had imploded near Titanic at a depth of circa 12,500 ft, killing all five men on board. 

Canada Launches Its Investigation

Canada's Transportation Safety Board on June 24, 2023 announced that it was conducting an investigation of the implosion of Titan that had killed five people. Titan's debris had been found few hundred feet from Titanic at a depth of 12,500 feet. TSB Chair Kathy Fox said on June 24, 2023 that since the mother ship, Polar Prince, was a Canada-flagged vessel, it became the responsibility of Transportation Safety Board of Canada to conduct an investigation in addition to the U.S. Coast Guards and National Transportation Safety Board. 

On June 16, 2023, Polar Prince left Newfoundland, towing Titan and carrying 17 crew members plus 24 others, towards the location of North Atlantic where the Titan submerged with five people on board. 

U.S. Coast Guard Probing Titan Implosion

U.S. Coast Guard announced on June 25, 2023 that it was investigating the implosion of Titan that had killed five people. Capt. Jason Neubauer, the chief investigator, said that the Coast Guard had convened Marine Board of Investigation, the highest level of Coast Guard probe, that would collaborate with other international agencies such as Transportation Safety Board of Canada, U.S. NTSB, French marine casualty investigation board and U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch. 

Titan's Owner Suspends Operation

Titan's owner, OceanGate, an Everett, Washington-based company, on July 6, 2023 issued a statement on its website, saying that it "has suspended all exploration and commercial operation". 

Coast Guard Hearings Portray Submersible Operator CEO as Egotistic, Demeaning

At the hearings held by the U.S. Coast Guard's investigating agency, many former employees blamed a culture of unnecessary risks and rash behavior of OceanGate's Former CEO Stockton Rush as one of the factors that had led to the eventual disaster of the submersible on June 18, 2023. The Marine Board of Investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard's highest-level investigation arm, held hearings at North Charleston, South Carolina on September 16, 2024 and September 17, 2024. 

On September 16, 2024, the former director of Engineering testified that he had refused to pilot the Titan mission as he had no trust in Rush or operation crews. On September 17, 2024, David Lochridge, former OceanGate operations director, said that he had seen first hand in 2016 how Rush, while piloting a separate submersible, Cyclops I, mistakenly rammed into another sunken ship, Andrea Doria. Andrea Doria sank in 1956 off the coast of Massachusetts. 

The hearing has begun on September 16, 2024 and will run through September 27, 2024.

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Earthquake: Why Tsunami from One of the Largest Earthquakes Fades Away Across Pacific

The Dallas Morning News on August 3, 2025 brought a very insightful report on why one of the strongest earthquakes off the Russia's Far East Coast in the Bering Sea had not led to proportionate degree of strong tsunamis in Americas' coastal areas. National Weather Services on July 30, 2025 withdrew the tsunami advisory for the Washington coastal areas in the midmorning, hours after one of the strongest earthquakes was recorded hours ago on July 30, 2025 local time off the Russian Far East Coast. First and foremost, the other side of Pacific Ocean just got lucky. However, SMEs are also attributing three key factors for insignificant outcome in terms of tsunami stemming from one of the strongest earthquakes.

(1) Bathymetry, or underwater topography, as the undersea mountains, massive rock build-ups and other obstacles did mitigate the force of the sea waves as they headed to the East

(2) Angle of Approach, which dictates how the beams of waves are going to splash the coastal areas and sometime a slant hit, instead of direct hit, has a less more forceful impact. The July 30, 2025, tsunami is one of them

(3) Timing is crucial as the high waves do occur in the evening during this time of the year in Western Washington's Pacific coasts while the tsunami waves from the July 30, 2025, earthquake reaching the Washington shorelines in the early morning when the tides are low