Would YOU live in an underwater city? Fabien Cousteau reveals what life was like during his record-breaking 31 days under the sea - and says we'll soon be building beneath the waves
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It may sound like an adventure straight from a Jules Verne novel, but a record-breaking aquanaut has just returned from living under water for a month - and he thinks we might join him in living beneath the waves in a few decades.
Fabien Cousteau lived in an underwater research lab 63ft (19metres) below the waves in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for 31 days.
And he thinks it is just a matter of time before humans are forced to build underwater cities and live beneath the waves as the global population explodes.
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Fabien Cousteau lived in an underwater research lab 63ft (19metres) below the waves in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for 31 days and thinks that people will live under the waves full-time in the future
WHO IS FABIEN COUSTEAU?
Fabien Cousteau is an oceanographic explorer, conservationist and documentary filmmaker who lives in New York.
He is the first grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who is credited with creating the first underwater habitats for humans and leading a team of ocean explorers on the first attempt to live and work underwater, 50 years ago.
Cousteau has been scuba diving since he was four and has now taken on his grandfather's legacy to protect and preserve Earth's endangered marine creatures and habitats.
He is well known for presenting TV shows about the ocean and sharks, having piloted a 14ft lifelike shark submarine that let him get close to the creatures,
In 2010 he launched charity 'Plant A Fish' which encourages communities to restore their local water eco systems by 'replanting' marine species with the aim of planting one billion fish worldwide.
The conservationist and documentary maker thinks that humans will one day live full-time in underwater cities.
'I'm a big proponent of space exploration, but the oceanic frontier is more acceptable in the foreseeable future,' he told MailOnline.
'Even if in the future people can colonise Mars, places like the continental shelf are fairly accessible because of the comparable distance.
'It's feasible to have a fairly large amount of human beings living on the shelf. It's a matter of need and money.'
While the idea has captured authors' and sci-fi filmakers' imaginations for years, Cousteau thinks that such a dramatic shift in people's living conditions is possible and could happen sooner than we might imagine.
'The technology's there and there's practical reasons that make it challenging, but there is overcrowding on land,' he said.
'If governments and countries are willing to dedicate funding, we could start seeing it tomorrow. In reality, we'll be pushed into it by necessity.
'In the next few decades we might see a few colonies – even if they are experimental.
Cousteau has just set a new record for living in a sub aquatic environment - surviving and conducting experiments under water for 31 days - and from grueling physical conditions to sighting undocumented animal behaviour, the aquanaut has revealed what it was like to take part in such an audacious experiment.
As well as collecting invaluable scientific data to inform climate research, Cousteau's Mission 31 highlighted how little scientists know about the ocean, compared with the land.
Fabien Cousteau (pictured) lived aboard the Aquarius, to better his grandfather's record by one day. Despite the base being the size of a single-storey school bus, with six people living inside, he misses his 'second home'
As well as collecting invaluable scientific data to inform climate research, Cousteau's Mission 31 highlighted how little scientists know about the ocean, compared with the land. He is pictured here inside his compact underwater home. He is seen diving outside the lab
Fabien Cousteau lived in an underwater research lab 63ft (19metres) below the waves in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (marked on the map) for 31 days
There have been more astronauts than aquanauts and just five per cent of the world's watery wilderness has been explored.
It is 50 years since the adventurer and conservationist's grandfather, Jacques Cousteau first lived under water for 30 days in the Red Sea.
Fabien Cousteau lived aboard the Aquarius, to better his grandfather's record by one day.
Despite the base being the size of a single-storey school bus, with six people living inside, he misses his 'second home'.
'It was just amazing to have a fireworks display of life outside your porthole,' he told MailOnline.
'It was a bittersweet moment [surfacing] having left the kaleidoscope of action to the silence of the boat – and the occasional bird above. Although the sweet part was seeing friends and family.'
LOTS OF SCIENTISTS AND DESIGNERS HAVE DREAMED THAT ONE DAY WE'LL BE SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES
From Jules Verne's novels to Star Wars, plenty of people have imagined that one day humans will live underwater.
One designer who is passionate about living beneath the ocean waves created sketches of his own dream community and like Cousteau, hopes his dreams will one day become reality.
Conceptual designer Phil Pauley said that he has dreamed about building an underwater city for the past 20 years, and last year released images of what the futuristic development might look like.
His drawings for Sub-Biosphere 2, show that the underwater habitat comes compete with eight 'bio-dome' structures and is 1,105ft wide.
Many people have dreamed up underwater cities. Conceptual designer Phil Pauley said that he has imagined building an underwater hub (pictured) for the past 20 years and last year released images of what the futuristic development might look like
His drawings for Sub-Biosphere 2 (pictured) show that the underwater habitat comes compete with eight 'bio-dome' structures and is 1,105ft wide
Mr Pauley, who describes himself as a futurist, explained that the structure would consist of a central support biosphere, an observation pod, and dwelling pods which will house up to 100 people.
Each of the dwelling pods would house individual eco systems and there will be no need to rely on air and food from the outside world.
Mr Pauley said: 'Building an underwater city is all I have thought about for the last 20 years.
'I don't want to come across as fanatical, so I am waiting for the right time, when people come around to the idea for themselves. When that happens I will be hear with my design.'
Mr Pauley's design was inspired by plans by the University of Arizona for a a research facility of the same name - but so far developments on the project appear to have stalled.
Cousteau also studied the behaviour of octopuses, hammerhead sharks, spotted eagle rays, eels and sponges.'We saw a Goliath grouper attack a large barracuda, which has never been seen before as far as we know,' he said
'It was a bittersweet moment [surfacing] having left the kaleidoscope of action to the silence of the boat – and the occasional bird above. Although the sweet part was seeing friends and family,' Cousteau said. He's pictured left upon 'splash up' last week, and with his famous conservationist and grandfather, Jacques Cousteau
During the month underwater, Cousteau and his team collected three years' worth of scientific data.
'We now have a better view into topics like climate change and pollution related issues. The data will be analysed over the coming months and we have enough for at least 10 scientific papers, which we didn't predict,' he said.
Cousteau also studied the behaviour of octopuses, hammerhead sharks, spotted eagle rays, eels and sponges.
'We saw a Goliath grouper attack a large barracuda, which has never been seen before as far as we know,' he said.
'We observed new animal behaviours and used slow motion photography at 20,000 frames a second to get new insights into how they move and hunt. You can't see that with the naked eye.'
Other fun experiments included cracking an egg in the water to see what happened – it floats eerily in a ball before fish eat it– and opening a bottle of shaken up cola.
Cousteau was joined by famous guests in Aquarius, including Hollywood actor Ian Somerhalder (left) and former U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson (right)
Speaking to MailOnline before his adventure began, Cousteau said he was relaxed about the psychological and physiological challenges ahead. 'I think I'll cope with the confined space pretty well - I live in New York City,' he quipped. Here, the crew gather in the main living area, with the tiny bedroom in view
Speaking to MailOnline before his adventure began, Cousteau said he was relaxed about the psychological and physiological challenges ahead.
'I think I'll cope with the confined space pretty well – I live in New York City,' he quipped.
Upon his arrival back on dry land, he said that all the technology aboard - including plenty of Microsoft devices – helped him cope with the cosy living quarters.
'It was physically challenging, although your body adapts to the higher nitrogen content, and greater pressure. There are side effects like losing your sense of taste and a slight narcosis effect.
'Trying to eat enough calories is tough. You can snack all day but your body burns three times as many just trying to stay warm. I lost six pounds in a month.'
Upon Cousteau's arrival back on dry land, he said that all the technology aboard - including plenty of Microsoft devices - helped him cope with the cosy living quarters. Here, Holywood actor Ian Somerhalder visits Aquarius (on the left)
When it came to scary moments, Cousteau said his team walked away relatively unscathed. 'The air conditioning breaking made for a miserable 24 hours. It got to 98F and 100 per cent humidity inside, like in the Amazon.' He is pictured on the left in cooler conditions
The scientists collected three years of data in their 31 days beneath the waves. Cousteau studied the behaviour of octopuses, hammerhead sharks, spotted eagle rays, eels, plants (pictured) and sponges
DEVICES FOR THE DEEP
The aquarius contained lots of tech, among which were Cousteau and his team's handheld consumer devices.
He used a Microsoft Lumia 1020 smartphone, which has a 41megapixel camera to shoot films while diving.
The team at Microsoft built a special underwater housing to keep the phone dry and allow it to function 328ft 100m below the waves. The case will help the phone withstand the pressure of the deep and it had an external light source.
He and his crew will also used larger Microsoft Lumia 1520 phablets to write their log book.
They will be shared pictures on their Facebook 'mission control' and on Twitter to give us an idea of their daily lives in the underwater habitat.
A Microsoft Lumia 2520 tablet will was used to make Skype calls. It has two cameras and allowed Cousteau to take part in Skype classroom sessions with schools around the world.
The hub had full internet access and its own Wi-Fi network, connected by a cable to the surface.
At three atmospheres, there is a risk of nitrogen narcosis and skin rashes, but luckily the team escaped with nothing by ear infections.
When it came to scary moments, Cousteau said his team 'walked away relatively unscathed'.
'The air conditioning breaking made for a miserable 24 hours. It got to 98F and 100 per cent humidity inside, like in the Amazon. We did get several ear and sinus infections – but they didn't spread.'
A month under water gave Cousteau plenty of time to reflect upon his grandfather's achievements.
When he undertook his saturating diving expedition 50 years ago, there was much less technology at his disposal and fewer links with life above the waves, but Fabien Cousteau says the challenges were still there for his record-breaking trip.
'I've always been a huge admirer of the amazing things he achieved – he built the habitat with very little knowledge and was a true pioneer of saturation diving.
'I'm lucky I can stand on his shoulders. He built the first underwater camera housing and submersible and while that can't be duplicated, it can be built upon.'
Cousteau thinks that future underwater labs will be more self-sufficient, using solar, wind and oceanic power for food and osmosis systems so aquanauts will not have to depend on freshwater supplies.
'They could also be mobile so they could move around like a covered wagon on the western frontier,' he said.
Future dwellers in future labs and cities would have to cope with the rigorous and tedious process of coming back safely to the ocean's surface without risking the bends.
Cousteau explained that the decompression process was made better using technology to distract the crew.
'We could chat to friends and watch movies to pass the time as we lay in our bunks for 18 and a half hours.
'It's very noisy and has to be done in the right order…and there are a lot of checks to make – like ensuring the oxygen levels are right.'
Despite this, he said that he would make the trip again.
'If I got the opportunity, I would do it again in a new habitat or location. My curiosity is ever tantalised by the mystery of the seas.'
He added: 'I have many more challenges but it's too early to talk about them, but they will be as unique. To learn more about the planet you have to push your limits and take the next big step.'
Cousteau said that his view of the world has always been from the bottom up and this has only increased since spending his time at Aquarius.
'I was privileged to be immersed in the underwater world since the age of four. And my positive attitude to conservation has always remained the same,' he said.
Cousteau thinks that future underwater labs will be more self-sufficient, using solar, wind and oceanic power for food and osmosis systems so aquanauts will not have to depend on freshwater supplies. He is pictured here staring wistfully out of Aquarius
Cousteau (pictured) said that his view of the world has always been from the bottom up and this has only increased since spending his time at Aquarius
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