The ‘Titan’ debris was found 12,500 feet under the sea, but how deep does the ocean go?

The world gasped as the news of the ill-fated ‘Titan’ submersible confirmed that the five passengers onboard have been presumed dead after the debris of the vessel was found on June 22. On June 18, contact with OceanGate’s ‘Titan’ submersible was lost in which passengers had gone to see the Titanic shipwreck which is at 3,800 m or around 12,500 feet.

A human body cannot survive the pressure the surrounding water exerts at this level. However, compared to the overall depth of the ocean, these are still small numbers. Ever wondered how far deep the ocean goes, and what actually is the scale of it all?

Experts say that only 5% of all the oceans have been explored by humans. For recreational scuba diving, the allowed limit is 40 m, which while may not sound much, but it is equal to a 10-12 storey building. Imagine standing on a 12-storey building and looking down, that’s how deep you would be under the water.

Here is a lowdown on where exactly the ‘Titan’ submersible had reached before it imploded, as per experts. 

200-500 m depth

214 m the no-limit free diving record in a single breath by Herbert Nitsch

332 m scuba diving record by Ahmed Gabr, a little more than the height of the Eiffel Tower

443 m you can put the iconic Empire state building upside down from the surface to the seabed

400-500 m the average operational depth of submarines

500 m is the maximum confirmed dive depth of the blue whales, the largest creature on the planet.

500-1,000 m depth

828 m the height of Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world

1,000 m the sunlight cannot reach here anymore, it is permanent dark

1,000-4,000 m depth

1,829 m this would be the deepest part of the Grand Canyon if it were to be in the ocean

2,250 m the habitat of colossal squid, which can grow as long as 14 m and as heavy as 750 kg

3,688 m the average depth of ocean

3,800 m the wreck of the Titanic is situated

4,000-10,000 m depth

6,000 m here, the pressure would be 1100 times more than the surface

6,500 m this is the maximum dive depth of US Navy’s DSV Alvin, one of the first vessels to explore the wreck of the Titanic

8,848 m if you put Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, upside down under the sea

10,000+ m depth

10,898 m in the Deep Sea Challenger mission, director James Cameron went this deep

10,916 m the deepest point humans have ever been. Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard went this deep in the ‘Trieste’ submarine. It took them 4.47 hours to reach this depth. Interestingly, a window in the submarine cracked after crossing 9,000 m, and the duo spent 20 minutes before beginning the ascent.

10,972 m average flight altitude for commercial flights, imagine looking down from an aeroplane to the land: that’s how deep the ocean goes

10,994 m Mariana Trench the deepest point known to humans, the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean

The depth and the scale of the ocean are just as astonishing as the ocean itself. 

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