Original subtitles

I will attempt

to survive for 24 hours underwater

to gain my official aquanaut certification.

What I am interested in figuring out is does a sting at depth

react any differently?

Oh, yeah.

Definitely feeling some stings now.

What's going on, everybody?

I'm Mark Vins.

And welcome to perhaps one of the most ambitious expeditions

where I will attempt to survive for 24 hours

underwater to gain my official aquanaut certification.

In order to get certified, not only do

I need to stay underwater for 24 hours

but I also need to perform a series of missions.

But before I get more into what those are,

let's get underneath the surface and start the clock.

Time to become an aquanaut.

While the word astronaut is world famous,

this is probably your first time hearing the term aquanaut.

And like their space traveling counterparts,

aquanauts have been studying extreme environments

for decades.

Only their frontier is the unknowns

of the ocean, which is still very much a mystery to this day.

By definition, an aquanaut is a scuba diver

who lives and operates both inside

and outside an underwater shelter

for extended periods of time.

Original aquanauts risked their lives

to conduct tests and experiments in the face of unknown outcomes.

And their sacrifices have led to most

of what we know today about scuba diving

and deep sea exploration.

As I approached the aquanaut habitat,

the realization it would be my home beneath the waves

took hold.

And from here, on my life would be

in the hands of my fellow divers and the topside mission control

to both maintain our oxygen levels

and keep the habitat from flooding.

Woo.

Oh, man.

Welcome to the habitat, one of only two aquanaut habitats

in the entire world.

It will also be our home for the next 24 hours where we eat,

sleep, and yes, work.

Officially aboard.

I would say it has pretty much all the creature

comforts you need to stay down here for not only one day,

but many days.

Oh, look who we have here.

Hunter, what are you doing?

Mark, I'm doing science.

You're doing science.

This laboratory has become our gear room for this video.

And oh, look at this.

We have a world record for the longest time spent living

in underwater fixed habitat.

I don't know, Hunter.

Maybe sometime, we can actually go for the record.

Why not? What do you think?

Yeah, make it 100 days.

Make it 100 days?

Living underwater in the habitat,

unlike a submarine, means being surrounded by a completely

different atmospheric pressure than the surface, which

has some surprising effects on some, otherwise, normal things.

All right, so here we are in the moon pool room.

This is the entrance and the exit to the habitat.

You can see, by looking at these normal bags of potato chips,

they don't look so normal.

They look crushed.

When they were brought down here into the habitat at depth,

the positive pressure from this environment

squished the potato chip bags.

It also changes how things like soda react.

If we were at the surface and I were to take this delicious

can of cola and do this and shake it up really hard,

and hand it to Kellen and have him open it,

would that be a nice thing to do to somebody?

What would happen?

You have a messy cola explosion on your hands.

However, you can actually shake a soda can

as hard and as long as you want and no fizz

will come out when you open it.

Do you believe it?

Do you believe it?

I'm kind of skeptical, so we're going to put this to the test.

This is not amateur stuff.

This is a pro deal.

Everybody shake it.

Will it explode or will it not?

1.

2.

3.

Oh.

Nobody's fizzed.

Nothing.

Ah, well, not a soda explosion but certainly

a refreshing way to end our first test down here at depth.

We're about to go out on our first mission.

Let's gear up.

As the sun was setting above,

we geared up with our dive lights

to explore outside the confines of the habitat.

On this mission, we would need to collect a sample

from the ocean floor to bring back for observation

under a microscope.

Since Dr. Hunter Hines is a PhD in macroecology,

understanding this aquatic micro-universe

was the perfect task for our certification.

We're in the lab now after, I would call that a twilight dive.

It got a little dark there at the end.

But we were out there collecting samples for Hunter's microscope.

Yeah, it's basically our lawn out there.

You know, we don't have grass.

We have microbial mats.

Oh, very cool.

It looks a lot more interesting under the microscope,

I must say. - Yeah.

Once you look a little closer, you see

all these different species.

So we have a bunch of filamentous bacteria.

We have some cyanobacteria.

We also have some eukaryotic single cells, some ciliates,

some other diatoms--

a whole mix of creatures living just

in that very small top layer.

Oh, yeah.

I can see that one moving around.

Oh, it's swimming around check that out.

All right, it's time to head out for our final mission of the day

into the darkness of night to feature an animal

that we've never seen before.

This one is going to sting a little.

Let's get out there.

Night dives

are always the most exciting way to find

bizarre creatures in the ocean.

Not only do the most alien looking creatures

tend to appear at night, but our lights

seem to help break up their camouflage for the cameras.

Tonight, we are looking for something to complete

our first underwater sting.

And just after a short swim, we found the very creature

we were after.

There it is.

Got one.

About to take a sting from another jellyfish in Florida.

Now, that's the top side that you're looking at right now.

That's the dome of the jellyfish.

If you flip it around to reveal those tentacles,

that's where it has a bunch of stinging cells called

nematocysts that fire out little harpoon daggers

laced with venom.

I actually brought a blacklight with us

because jellyfish in particular tend to fluoresce

underneath UV lights.

Whoa.

So cool.

What I am interested in figuring out is, does a sting at depth

react any differently?

There's only one way to find out, and that's to take a sting.

I'm about to take my very first underwater sting.

All right, here goes nothing.

1.

2.

3.

Oh, yeah.

Something's going on.

Oh, yeah.

Definitely, I'm feeling a little electrical impulses for sure.

Yeah.

Definitely feeling some stings now,

little pinpricks like ...

I'll take the jelly and put it back in the water.

You can definitely see that I, for sure, took some stings

nowhere near the intensity of, say,

like the Portuguese man-o-war that left me

like wriggling around in pain.

Taking a sting by a new creature,

the upside down jellyfish.

It's time to let this little jelly off into the moon pool

and get on with the rest of the aquanaut adventure.

The best moment of every aquanaut's expedition

for their certification is this.

Did somebody order a pizza?

We got pizza.

So just like the rest of our gear,

it has to be brought in in dry boxes.

You can order a piping hot pizza.

Talk about service.

Mmm.

Nothing beats pizza after a long dive.

That's awesome.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Appreciate it, Thane.

After we devoured our pizza,

it was finally time for some much needed sleep.

We were absolutely exhausted from a full night of diving.

But luckily, we had Thane and Matt topside keeping an eye

on our pressure and the oxygen.

Just waking up.

Got a good night's sleep.

Feeling better.

We only have four--

about four hours to go.

All that's left to do now is have a little breakfast,

start shuttling gear back to the dock.

All right.

There it is.

That's time.

That is 24 hours living underwater.

All geared up ready to ascend back to the surface.

As I departed the habitat

for the final time, I felt a sense

of immediate accomplishment.

Completing a 24-hour scuba dive was not

something I'd ever thought I'd have the chance to do.

And it was certainly a lot different than I expected.

Woo, officially an aquanaut.

That is so awesome.

Yes, we did it.

Congratulations, Mark.

On behalf of Jules Undersea Lodge,

we'd like to welcome you to the aquanaut fraternity.

Here's your certificate.

Display it with pride.

You've joined a unique fraternity.

There's only a few thousand of us in the world

that are aquanauts. Welcome.

I'm so honored, Thane.

Thank you so much for everything.

This was amazing.

Ever since I was a kid,

the mythology of mermaids has fascinated me.

And today, I'm getting my shot at becoming one.

So a mermaid is a mythical half human, half--

typically, half woman, half fish or half sea creature type being.

All of our historical accounts of mermaids

are definitely pretty dark and sinister.

Whereas today, you can be a mermaid as a full time

job living in the Florida Keys.

However terrifying mermaids

might have been in early human history,

mermaids swimming in today's seaside shores

have one fin in fantasy and the other in free diving.

My training starts

with Anna Capps, a PADI-certified

mermaid instructor here in the Florida Keys.

Her course will not only teach me the techniques

to swim as a mermaid, but also the tactics

needed to revive an unresponsive diver from oxygen deprivation

or potentially drowning while underwater.

Wait a minute.

Why do I need to know how to revive

a diver from possibly drowning?

Because today, in order to become a certified mermaid,

I will need to save an unresponsive diver at depths

of up to 20 feet while swimming with my legs

bound in a monofin suit.

Don't be fooled by the colorful mermaid tail.

This is going to be one of the scariest challenges

I've ever undertaken where anything could go wrong.

OK, let's do this.

- Cool. - All right.

- So the three recovery breaths. - Yes.

OK.

Again, those are the most important breaths

that you're going to take during any portion of your dive, OK?

That's going to allow you to off gas that buildup of CO2

while rapidly intaking fresh new oxygen

and keeping your blood pressure stable so

that you're not at risk of blacking

out if you're slightly hypoxic.

I really-- I don't want to black out today.

Yeah, no.

That's not a good look for a mermaid.

Nope, not a good look.

No.

Whenever you're ready, take your full final inhale.

For this exercise,

I've been asked to hold my breath as long as I can

while listening to Anna's guidance

in order to build up my tolerance for retaining

oxygen while underwater.

Let the water and the float support you.

Listening to Anna's calm

instructions as I retain my breath helps me keep my mind

relaxed and heart rate down.

Fortunately for me, I don't have thalassophobia,

which is the fear of deep bodies of water.

But I sure hope she'll be equally helpful to me

once out at sea for battling the wind

and the currents will surely make my heart race faster.

Get your feet below you

before you lift that airway up.

And I'll coach you through those three recovery breaths.

Are you OK?

OK, yeah.

Great.

Could you take a guess how long that was?

30?

30 seconds?

A minute and 44 seconds.

Are you serious?

I'm 100% serious.

Oh, my gosh.

You owe me 10 tacos.

Oh, my god.

All right, I'll buy you 10 tacos.

OK, great.

Woo.

I feel like I could actually be a professional mermaid now.

This is-- this is so much.

Maybe by the end of the day.

OK, OK.

She's like don't get ahead of yourself, Christina.

Let's see how you feel in open water first.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, this is just a pool, Christina.

Open water is a whole other story.

All right, this is my first time trying out my mermaid tail

so here we go.

Mermaids are a part of mythology

all across the globe.

Whether you're talking about Mami Wata in Central Africa

or sirens off the coast of Ireland,

there's a sense of beauty and danger

that's sort of wrapped up in the mermaid myth.

And I think that is an interesting comment

on human culture.

All right, how did I do?

I think you did a really

great job here in the pool.

So I think you're ready to go into an open water environment

and apply all the skills that you've

learned here out on the reef.

Are you ready to do it?

Ooh, I'm ready.

All right, my wild friends.

We are out in the open ocean.

We are going to be diving down to a depth of 20 feet.

I have never done that before so I'm a little nervous.

But I'm really hoping she can sign off my papers

and becoming a real life mermaid.

I think the toughest part about becoming a mermaid

is actually putting the tail on.

It's a process.

These waves are making me feel a little sick here.

I need to get into the water.

I need to feel better, get back to my home in the water.

Anna spotted a reef for us

to dive down to in my first attempt

at swimming as a mermaid in the ocean.

Right away, I can feel the difference

in strength needed swimming in a monofin

against the ocean current compared to the training pool.

But there's no going back now.

Time to put this mermaid trainee to the first test.

Surprisingly, to me, I had no concerns

for holding my breath while taking

in these vibrant surroundings.

As we dove down, I even spotted a beautiful nurse shark

and wondered how many mermaids has she

encountered off these shores.

All right, lean back.

Ah, that was actually not too bad.

But that was with my mask on.

And I'm about to do this without my mask.

And it's kind of freaking me out right now.

But Anna's great.

She's been there with me the entire time.

And I trust in her and have faith in her

that she's going to be right next to me

when I'm blind in the ocean in a mermaid tail.

As I dive down and open my eyes,

I quickly realize everything around me,

even Anna swimming just feet from me, is blurry.

Not knowing how far I am from the sea floor

is unsettling, to say the least.

Breathe.

Well, how did it go?

Well, it went well.

A lot better than I expected it was going to go.

It was definitely very scary without my mask on, though.

That was the scary part.

Once I did that, though, not too bad.

Feeling pretty good, actually.

CHRISTINA WILSON Diving

as a mermaid was liberating.

But now, it's time for my final certified test--

reviving an unresponsive diver from drowning.

The fun, mystique, and lure just vanished with the danger

of this next maneuver.

As she dives down, I look for her to release bubbles--

my cue she's in need of rescuing.

My heart pounds as I take in one last deep breath.

With every muscle in my body, I pushed against the sea

and plunged down.

And without hesitation, I started positioning her

to breach the surface.

As I held her head above the water,

I began the blow, tap, and talk recovery maneuver.

Killed it.

That was textbook rescue.

And with that dive,

Anna told me the good news as I swam back toward the raft.

I'm a real life mermaid.

Woohoo.

Surely, when we think about the ocean

and we think about the reef, the parrotfish, the colors

and the vibrancy in that environment

are naturally just what it is.

So I imagine a mermaid, if she is suited to her environment,

she is also colorful and beautiful

like you would see on a reef.

All right, my wild friends.

Now, that I am officially a certified mermaid,

the Brave Crew has, well, challenged

me to dive down at 20 feet.

So we've dropped this line with an anchor on it,

and I'm about to give this a go.

Here we go.

In all honesty, when I signed up

for this course, I had no idea what it truly took

to become a real life mermaid.

From the lifelike costume designs

to the sheer physical strength and above all,

the trust within your fellow mermaid

to come to your aid, this course,

was far beyond my wildest expectations.

Good job.

All right, Brave Wilderness Crew.

I accepted your challenge, and I beat it.

How was it?

That was wild, man.

I didn't think I would be able to save somebody,

and I just did that.

So she said I did a really great job, textbook save.

And it's a really good feeling.

I'm not going to lie, a really good feeling.

Are you a mermaid now?

I'm a real life mermaid, man.

Dude. - Dude.

You did it. - Yeah.

I'm real.

It's real.

It's certified.

Beyond the mystique and lure

of a fictitious female sea creature,

mermaids today dive for conservation

and provide underwater cleanups such as Dive Against Debris.

Our oceans need protection.

And mermaids are leading the charge

to preserve the wildlife that need these reefs to endure.

All right, my wild friends.

I have finally achieved one of my childhood dreams

of becoming a real life mermaid.

I hope this inspires you to live out your dreams,

however big or small.

I'm Christina Wilson, and I'll see

you on my next wild adventure.