Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of legendary French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, has emerged from the deep after 31 days in an undersea lab.
The 46-year-old Cousteau - whose efforts bested a 30-day mark set by his grandfather a half-century ago - and his "Mission 31" returned to Islamorada, Florida on Wednesday morning.
His team cheered and greeted him with hugs at the coastal Florida International University facility that operates the bus-sized Aquarius Reef Base undersea research laboratory, the only one of its kind and located 20 metres below the surface.
"This has been a monumental success on multiple levels," Cousteau told a press conference.
Cousteau said he was "elated" about the quality of the work, but "exhausted" from spending more than a month under water, where his team carried out a battery of experiments, some of it streamed live online.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"We achieved more than we imagined possible," he told AFP. "The most important thing was reaching the maximum amount of people for 31 days on multiple platforms."
The goal of the mission launched on June 1 was to observe marine life, the effects of pollution on coral and how long-term underwater stays affect people.
Scientists took daily diving trips outside the lab to carry out experiments also focused on climate change and ocean acidification.
Cousteau allowed ocean enthusiasts to follow his mission in real time via the Internet - a live feed at www.mission-31.com.
He conducted educational seminars with schools, museums and aquariums from the undersea lab, where conditions were extremely humid.
Cousteau told AFP before the mission that he was seeking to honor the legacy of his grandfather, who spent 30 days under the Red Sea in the early 1960s - one of his many ocean voyages.
