Richard Branson Prepares For His Own Deep Sea Adventure

James Cameron was the first person to reach the bottom of the ocean in a solo submarine, but he won’t be the last. Sir Richard Branson is currently working on his own deep sea project which he plans to launch later this summer.

Cameron made his historic dive to the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The director of “Titanic” traveled 6.8 miles to reach the bottom of the ocean, which he described as a “barren lunar plane.” Branson’s dive won’t be as deep (he’s traveling to the floor of the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean) but he’s hoping it will involve a few more deep sea creatures and possible some shipwrecks.

Branson said:

“The Puerto Rico Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall, and it is completely unexplored. There are numerous Spanish and British galleons which have gone down there, so we would hope to be able to explore those. There are lots of different big creatures too.”

Branson said that he was a little disappointed that Cameron beat him to the bottom of the ocean but said that he was happy for his good friend.

Branson told the Telegraph:

“It was obviously a very historic day and actually an important day, a fantastic example of human endeavour and determination.”

Branson said that he would also be interesting in working with Cameron on a future dive. The owner of Virgin Galactic said that it’s hard to explore the depths of the oceans because you have a very limited amount of time. Branson said that the two subs may be able to work together to get a better view of the bottom of the ocean.

Branson said:

“On such a short trip you really can’t explore and move around a lot. We know there are gigantic things down there. I think that is where the two subs working together would be good. Ours is battery-powered, so very quiet. We could work out a way to identify a creature, then call the other sub to film it.”

Branson is also nearing his goal of commercial flights to space. 500 people have already signed up for a flight on Branson’s Virgin Galactic space shuttle.