Dr. Joseph Dituri spent 100 days below in the Florida Keys, a record. Here's what it did to his body

Mark H. Bickel, Fort Myers News-Press
Updated ·3 min read

Dr. Joseph Dituri has set the standard for time spent living undersea.

On June 9 at 10:30 a.m. Dituri resurfaced in Key Largo (Largo Sound in the Altlantic Ocean) and was breathing fresh air again on land after spending 100 days submerged. He is the first person to ever achieve this length of stay undersea.

Dituri began his mission on March 1, through a partnership with MarineLab Resources Development Foundation, setting the world record for longest time spent living in an underwater habitat on May 13, day 73 of the mission.

Dituri, 55 and known as Dr. Deep Sea, has been living underwater to inspire future science scholars and to conduct science with others while also working on projects related to his study of traumatic brain injury, PTSD and other brain traumas.

Dituri is an associate professor at the University of South Florida, and taught his May Term biomedical engineering course from undersea.

Dr. Joseph Dituri spent 100 days living undersea in the Florida Keys. He ended his stay on June 9, 2023.
Dr. Joseph Dituri spent 100 days living undersea in the Florida Keys. He ended his stay on June 9, 2023.

“To explore anything new always results in personal and professional discoveries,” said Dr. Joseph Dituri in a press release. “This experience has changed me in important ways, and my greatest hope is that I have inspired a new generation of explorers and researchers to push past all boundaries.”

The day he set the record: USF professor sets world record for living underwater in 100-day experiment

What has been learned from Dituri's 100 days living undersea?

A team of 12 medical doctors conducted routine testing of Dituri’s brain waves, heart rate, blood pressure, ear pressure, urine, oxygen saturation and muscle measuring.

  • Height: Dituri shrunk half an inch during the mission.

  • REM sleep: While living undersea, Dituri slept in 60-66% in REM sleep consistently, compared to 40% prior.

  • Cholesterol: While living undersea, Dituri’s cholesterol dropped 72 points and remained low.

  • Inflammatory markers: While living undersea, all of Dituri’s inflammatory markers decreased by 30% and remained low.

Where was Dituri living undersea for 100 days and how deep was the water?

Dituri lived in a 100-square-foot lab, 22 feet below the surface at Jules Undersea Lodge, the only underwater hotel in the United States. While undersea, Dituri breathed in compressed air, which prevented water from rising and entering the lab.

What was Dituri doing while he was undersea for 100 days?

  • Over 14 weeks, Dituri conducted 124 online interactions, engaging with more than 5,500 students from 15 countries bringing the message of STEM discovery to students of all ages.

  • Dituri's research focused on how the human body and mind reacts to, or copes with, being in an isolated, confined extreme (ICE) environment for an extended period of time.

This is a diagram of the 100-square-foot lab, 22 feet below the surface. Dr. Joseph Dituri lived in for 100 days. It's called at Jules Undersea Lodge and is the only underwater hotel in the United States.
This is a diagram of the 100-square-foot lab, 22 feet below the surface. Dr. Joseph Dituri lived in for 100 days. It's called at Jules Undersea Lodge and is the only underwater hotel in the United States.

Dituri plans to share his mission findings and research at the World Extreme Medical Conference in Scotland this November.More than 60 people visited Dituri undersea, including his mother and brother, 26 MarineLab young explorers, and a handful of scientists.

Dituri holds a Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Florida, where he now serves as an associate professor. Dituri is a retired U.S. Navy Saturation Diver who served 28 years.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida man resurfaces after 100 days undersea in Florida Keys