Scotland Women Set World Record In Deepest Dive By All-female Crew

Scottish scientist Heather Stewart from Edinburgh recently made history by joining an all-female crew on the deepest dive ever. She compared the experience to climbing Mount Everest underwater. As per a BBC report, Heather Stewart from Edinburgh dived into the South Pacific Ocean alongside her partner Kate Wawatai using the Bakunawa submersible. They spent approximately 10 hours underwater, achieving a unique record. Marine geologist Professor Stewart mentioned they weren’t aware they were going to set a world record until that day. During their descent, Kate speculated it could be the first time a woman had reached such depths, and indeed it was. Both of them ended up setting world records.

The caption of the post reads, “Please celebrate my friend & former shipmate Kate Wawatai + marine geologist Heather Stewart who just made a world-record dive into the Nova-Canton Trough (Central Pacific), a first for an all-female submersible team, with Kate as PILOT”. Several users have commented on the video. A former US Navy Officer commented, “I am so proud of you both and the whole team for making such a historic dive together”. Another user wrote, “Congratulations Kate and Heather”.

The sea area where both scientists work is called the Nova-Canton Trough. It’s like a fracture zone, stretching 400 miles long and plunging 8,000 metres deep. Both women live in Samoa, and it takes them four days to get to this location. Their team gathers data about the ocean’s biology and geology. Professor Stewart described it as an incredible opportunity. She said, “We were diving to a depth comparable to Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth.”

Professor Stewart has worked as a marine geologist since 2001. She went diving for the first time in 2019 and has done it five times since then. Before that, she had dived to a depth of 6000 metres. Despite feeling a bit nervous, she isn’t scared because she enjoys it. She said, “We’re exploring places where nobody has ever been. We’re discovering things that people didn’t know existed. I’ve seen amazing sponges, fish, octopuses, and many other creatures living in the deep sea.” Time passes quickly underwater because you never know what you’ll see next. So, it’s really exciting.