Texas Explorer Sets World’s Deepest Dive Record and Finds Plastic Trash at Ocean Bottom

Explorer Victor Vescovo stands atop the Limiting Factor submersible craft, which he used to dive to the deepest point of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench on April 28, 2019. Reeve Jolliffe/Five Deeps

A Texas businessman and deep-sea explorer descended 35,853 feet into the depths of the Pacific Ocean to shatter the record for the world’s deepest dive—and he found plastic trash.

Victor Vescovo, a former U.S. Navy Reserve Commander, dove 52 feet deeper than any human before him, the Five Deeps Expedition team disclosed in a news release (pdf) on Monday, May 13.