# Free dive to bottom of Mariana Trench, yes or no? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442 "2020-07-15T22:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/21 "2020-07-16T03:24:18Z")
I’d insist on blasting an all Dio playlist. Starting with Holy Diver. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/22 "2020-07-16T04:54:46Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I really thought you meant something else by the term “free dive.” > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freediving) Mariana Trench would take one big set of lungs. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/23 "2020-07-16T08:09:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If they can bring the Mariana Trench to me then I’ll do it, too much trouble otherwise. “Hi, Mr. Tripolar, we’ve dug a 30,000 foot deep trench in your backyard and filled it with water, would you like to go down?” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/24 "2020-07-16T10:06:23Z")
Kinda tired today…maybe tomorrow? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/25 "2020-07-16T13:49:09Z")
I’d go if I could take along a 1920s-style death ray, to ward off hungry giant squid. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/26 "2020-07-16T13:57:27Z")
I’m kind of a completist. If I took the Mariana Trench trip, I’d feel obligated to also climb Mt. Everest, which sounds like a lot more work than I’m ready to sign up for. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/27 "2020-07-16T16:51:29Z")
Wasn’t that the plot of the movie, _The Big Blue_? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/28 "2020-07-16T17:00:45Z")
My main problem is the lack of data on how safe such a trip would actually be, given it’s only been done twice. OK, those times were successful, but that means such an excursion could have a 33% fatality rate, which I would only find out about once I became the statistic. So while it would be a cool thing to do, my interest in doing it doesn’t outweigh the potential risk. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/29 "2020-07-16T17:16:05Z")
I just think it sounded boring. Mind you I’m an odd one - I’ve never seen a natural or scenic vista that I _didn’t_ find boring. Different strokes for different folks. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/30 "2020-07-16T17:20:03Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I’ve never seen a natural or scenic vista that I _didn’t_ find boring. You are a true teenager at heart. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/31 "2020-07-16T17:23:46Z")
There is a _lot_ of evidence for that, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/32 "2020-07-16T21:00:00Z")
If you could make a submarine the size of a jet liner, yea. But I’m too tall to fit in one of those mini subs. And despite me always thinking the trench looks like this |\_|, it’s actually quite flat on the bottom. And dark. And empty. I’d rather go to the Titanic, or the mid-Atlantic ridge, or a hydrothermal vent. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/33 "2020-07-16T21:26:28Z")
While I’m down there, can I take a shot at the exhaust port? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/34 "2020-07-17T00:02:11Z")
I’d do it for the Geek Cred. I mean, how cool is that! Also, if everything goes pear-shaped (or, maybe, more like pea-shaped) you won’t have time to know about it for long… ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/35 "2020-07-17T12:18:56Z")
Count me out, but a bit reluctantly. It would be an interesting experience - or maybe not. Spending a few hours in a tiny submersible knowing that if anything goes wrong it goes very wrong very quickly is not really too attractive. The other thing is that there is not much to see down there. Those who made the trip only saw an occasional fish. And one bit of seabed looks pretty much like any other outside the littoral regions. In short, I’ll give up my bragging rights. BTW, is there even a submersible available now that could do it? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/36 "2020-07-17T12:36:23Z")
I would love to be able to do this but my claustrophobia would not allow it. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/37 "2020-07-17T14:10:38Z")
Sure, I’d do it. I’m not particularly claustrophobic and, while I’m sure it’s not the most visually exciting thing in the ocean, the novelty will be more than enough to keep interested. Can I bring my wife? We can join the Six Mile Deep club. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/38 "2020-07-17T14:26:31Z")
Yeah, when I saw ‘free dive’ I thought he meant doing free diving and my thought was I’d be dead before I got close, which didn’t sound like it would be very fun. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/39 "2020-07-17T16:07:07Z")
I would take the offer in a heartbeat. I listened to an interview or a podcast or something where the interviewee talked about regretting having to turn down an offer from Victor Vescovo (I think) to dive to some deep place. Details aside, the takeaway was you just don’t want to pass up opportunities like that. That said, I think there are other places that are more interesting than the Mariana Trench. Deep sea vents, shipwrecks, maybe a whale fall. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442/40 "2020-07-17T16:30:01Z")
Can I go see the band Marianas Trench instead? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-dive-to-bottom-of-mariana-trench-yes-or-no/915442.md?page=3)