First published back in 1999. We’re happy to report Jules’ Undersea Lodge (pictured below) is still in operation.
Whatever happened to Homo Aquaticus—the new breed of “humanfish” that were willing to surgically alter their bodies with artificial gills to allow them to breathe under water?
Famed undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau was convinced that Homo Aquaticus was next step in human evolution. “We are now moving toward an alteration of human anatomy,” Cousteau told the World Congress on Underwater Activities in 1962, “to give man almost unlimited freedom underwater.”
Throughout his life, the famed French explorer searched for new methods that would allow humans to stay underwater for as long as possible. He co-invented the Aqua-lung in the 1940s and remained a pioneer in scuba gear until his death in 1997.
“The conscious evolution of Home Aquaticus,” explained Cousteau to the World Congress, came out of a need “to place swimmers underwater for very long periods to really learn about the sea.”
Cousteau was determined to prove humans could live and work underwater. In the early 1960s, he began a series of projects called Conshelf (or Continental Shelf Station). The submerged living quarters allowed aquanauts to stay undersea for up to a month.
But creating an acceptable habitat was no easy task. Poor visibility, limited air supply, and the danger of decompression were among the obstacles Cousteau and his staff faced.
Participants in Conshelf complained about loss of appetite, taste and smell, the murky light, and lack of privacy living in such close quarters. Another annoyance was their chirpy helium- inflected voices (for future expeditions, Costeau suggested creating “underwater Esperanto” with the “e” sound eliminated). Despite the trying set of circumstances, Cousteau saw Conshelf as a success and later took home an Academy 
Award for World Without Sun, the documentary that looked at the undersea experiment.
Thanks to Cousteau’s efforts, underwater exploration began to generate the kind of enthusiasm normally associated with the exploration of space.
One of the star attractions of the 1964/65 World’s Fair in New York was a General Motors exhibit (left) which depicted citizens living underwater, drilling for gas, farming the sea, and vacationing at the Hotel Atlantis.
Was it possible that underwater exploits could match the feats taking place in space? The clearest link between the two endeavors was astronaut/aquanaut Scott Carpenter, who had explored both frontiers.
In 1962, Carpenter (right) orbited Earth three times as part of the Mercury Aurora 7 mission. Less than three years later, he was leading two Navy teams to the ocean floor to conduct experiments in underwater living aboard Sealab II.
While he was underwater in Sealab, Carpenter spoke to NASA colleagues C. Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad, Jr. orbiting Earth in outer space aboard Gemini 5.
But the public’s interest in colonizing “inner space” proved short lived. Compared to the fascination of watching an astronaut stand on the moon, the idea of “humanfish” seemed whimsical at best. Deep sea exploration, however, continued to grow and today opportunities to scuba dive are perhaps more plentiful than ever.
Divers looking for overnight accommodations can stay at Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida. Guests dive five fathoms below the surface of a lagoon and stay in the comfort of “the world’s first and only underwater hotel.”
If you like the idea of staying in a place where you can “dive, dine, and dream at five fathoms” it will run you around $300.00 a night. Don’t forget to pack the Dramamine.
More expansive plans to develop underwater hotels have recently been introduced. The architecture firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo is looking to develop an 80-room sub-surface hotel (pictured below) in the Pacific Ocean.
And a few stalwarts continue to believe that living underwater is the only sane solution to solving the problem of overpopulation, But most, like Cousteau, are simply attracted to the mysteries of the deep.
The Cousteau Society carries on the work of Jacques-Yves Cousteau who died in 1997. Their mission is “to safeguard the Water Planet” and provide insight on environmental issues.
“Man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free,” Costeau once explained about the allure of sea. “Buoyed by water, he can fly.”
Tags: Living Underwater
yeah, what happened to all of this? it really seemed that the whole underwater infatuation spiked in the 80s (in many different areas of pop culture), then maybe died with Kevin Costner?
nice post.
I wouldn’t say died. It will be back. These things come in cycles.
Question is, when the cycle comes back around, will we be ready technologically to take the plunge (excuse the pun).