Fabien Cousteau, grandson of famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, has completed a 31-day stay in an underwater laboratory. Fabien and team have broken Jacques' underwater living record.

The team lived in Aquarius, which is a 43-feet-long underwater laboratory near a coral reef, off Key Largo. Fabien, along with two "aquanauts", dived 60 feet on June 1, 2014 to reach their underwater home.

Aquarius is air conditioned and has wireless internet service, Reuters reported. The laboratory is operated by Florida International University.

Jacques Cousteau, Fabien's grandfather, conducted a similar expedition 50 years ago. In 1963, the famous French oceanographer lived in an underwater laboratory at a depth of about 30 feet in Red Sea for about 30 days.

Fabien and team's expedition is called Mission 31.

"This expedition's main goal was to reach as many people around the world ... to impassion future generations to care about the oceans, to cherish them, to be curious about them in a way that existed during my grandfather's era," Cousteau told a news conference after surfacing, Telegraph reported.

Staying in an underwater lab 24/7 helped scientists explore the oceanic environment better. Researchers said that they had several opportunities to collect samples for their studies.

The team studied climate change, effects of ocean acidification, pollution, predator-prey relations and several other topics. In addition, Cousteau and team made a documentary film and even participated in several Skype chat sessions with schools, museums and aquariums in several parts of the world, National Geographic reported.

The stay wasn't all smooth though. "One night the air conditioning stopped working and it got to 95 degrees (35 C) and 95 percent humidity," said Andrew Shantz, a Ph.D. candidate in marine eco-science at Florida International University. Shantz spent 17 days in the laboratory in the beginning of June, according to Reuters.

Check more videos and photos of Mission 31, here. 

© 2024 NatureWorldNews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.