Florida professor is attempting to live underwater for 100 days

A University of South Florida professor is taking part in research where he hopes to reside underwater for 100 days.

Professor Joseph Dituri (or "Dr. Deepsea") seeks examine how the human body handles the long-term effects of staying submerged in extreme pressure as he lives in a 100-square-foot habitat 30 feet below the surface at Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, the University of South Florida said in a press release.

For the duration of Dituri's submerged stay, the 55-year-old’s health will be documented by a medical team who will run a number of tests on him such as blood panels, ultrasounds, electrocardiograms.

There will also be psychosocial and psychological tests to learn how about mental effects of being in an isolated, confined environment for an extended period of time - a similar feat astronauts have to go through when in space.

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A previous study which Dituri is advancing on concluded that cells exposed to increased pressure doubled within five days which could potentially mean the increased pressure might to allow humans to increase their longevity and prevent diseases associated with aging, according to the university.

The USF professor is also aiming to break the Guinness World Record for the most continuous time spent in an underwater habitat.

“The human body has never been underwater that long, so I will be monitored closely,” Dituri said in a statement.

“This study will examine every way this journey impacts my body, but my null hypothesis is that there will be improvements to my health due to the increased pressure.”

“So, we suspect I am going to come out super-human!” Dituri said who started the experiment on March 1.

During his time underwater, Dituri has been posting updates to Instagram.

“Living in my undersea habitat for the next 100 days," the professor announced in a video.

"And guess what guys, we are gonna science the s*** out of this. We’re going to be talking about biomedical engineering, doing experiments in biology and biomedical engineering, we’re going to be talking to the who’s who of the undersea realm, and we’re gonna be having a good time!"

Attempting to set a world record and completing research underwater hasn't stopped the former US Navy commander and saturation diving officer from teaching his biomedical engineering online course.

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