James Cameron Donates Challenger Submersible To Oceanographic Institute
This article is more than 2 years old
Regardless of how people feel about his films, I don’t think anyone can deny the wealth of filmmaking and technical talent that director James Cameron brings to both his own projects and to cinema in general. Not to mention the Titanic flood of fetishism for fucking in old cars on giant ships that he spurred with his box office magnum opus.
In addition to his films, his behind-the-scenes documentary work has been extraordinary on films such as the Titanic-centered Ghosts of the Abyss and the Mid-Ocean Ridge exploration doc Aliens of the Deep. His next film focuses on his trip down to the Challenger Deep for Deepsea Challenge 3D, which took place a year ago this week. Now Cameron is donating both his submersible system and the science platform that he helped create to Massachusetts’ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the largest in the U.S., which will receive the vehicle sometime in June. Woods Hole will be using the Challenger Deep to film a series of reality shows about the ocean life hanging around the Jersey shore. Just kidding, probably.
Woods Hole has entered into a deal with Cameron and his team to use the sub both to advance current research and to inspire future expeditions. Multiple submersibles playing bumper cars on the bottom of the ocean? It isn’t a ridiculous idea. Cameron calls Woods Hole “a place where the Deapsea Challenger system will be a living, breathing and dynamic program going forward.” Sounds like carnival rides to me.
Just because he’s giving the submersible away doesn’t mean Cameron is finished taking rides in it. He told the New York Times that he’s eager to travel down to the Sirena Deep, six miles deep into the Pacific. Oh, to be a member of the Six Miles Deep Club.
