DIVING NEWS
Branson & Cousteau to explore Blue Hole live
A two-hour live TV programme from one of the world’s largest submerged sinkholes is to be broadcast by Discovery Channel at the start of December.
Located some 46 miles out in the Caribbean off the coast of Belize and measuring 300m across, the Great Blue Hole has long attracted scuba divers because of its shark and other marine life and clear waters.
22 November 2018
Jacques Cousteau first investigated the 125m-deep circular sinkhole almost half a century ago, declaring it to be one of the world’s five top dive-sites, but the feature has never been mapped or plotted.
Now Discovery plans to shed light on what lies at the bottom by broadcasting live from a three-person submersible.
On board will be Sir Richard Branson and Jacques’ grandson Fabien Cousteau, with pilot Erika Bergman. A second submersible will provide additional lighting to help the explorers and viewers to see as much as possible.
The plan is for the vessels to continue exploring the Blue Hole for two weeks after the live dive, collecting data to enable its geographical features to be modelled for the first time.
Discovery Live: Into the Blue Hole is hosted by marine biologist Luke Tipple and presenter Chris Jacobs.
The programme will also look at how the Blue Hole was created millions of years ago and at how diving technology has evolved since Cousteau’s first mission.
It starts at 9pm on Sunday, 2 December, in the UK.
