A Russian mini-submarine on Tuesday reached the bottom of Lake Baikal in Siberia, setting a world record for the deepest dive in a lake, the crew told organisers from the vessel. “Mir-1 is at 1,680 metres”, a crew member could be heard saying in a radio link-up with a special barge near Olkhon Island that had lowered the Mir-1 and Mir-2 submarines into the waters of the world’s deepest lake.
Lake Baikal was previously believed to be a maximum of 1,637 metres deep and scientists say they could find new life-forms in its unexplored depths. “This is a world record for a submarine diving in fresh water,” an expedition organiser was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
The scientific expedition was organised by Artur Chilingarov, a pro-Kremlin member of parliament and an Arctic explorer who led the submarine team that planted a Russian flag at the bottom of the North Pole last August.
Scientists plan to collect samples at different depths and hope to document the effects of global warming on the pristine lake, as well as to draw the attention of the government to the need for greater environmental protection. “We want to study and observe Baikal, preserve it,” Chilingarov said on Monday ahead of the dive as he inspected the mini-submarines in the small fishing port of Turka on the mountainous eastern shore of the lake.
The expedition also has a political dimension. Chilingarov said he had “full support” from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and a flag for the ruling United Russia party could be seen flying proudly from the expedition’s barge.
Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, although not the largest in terms of surface area.
Environmental groups warn that increased pollution is threatening the lake, which has more than 800 unique wildlife species.
The lake contains around a fifth of the world’s freshwater reserves.
On Sunday and on Monday morning, what locals affectionately call “the sea” actually looked more like a raging ocean, such were the high winds. Intense water pressure means that previous expeditions have never gone below a quarter of its presumed depth. Chilingarov’s deputy Anatoly Sagalevich said the lake has “perhaps not been properly studied” given past measurements had to rely on pure mathematics alone.
“We will drop at a rate of 30 metres per minute,” Sagalevich had said before the dive. “Practically vertical. It will take in total between one hour and an hour and a quarter to complete the mission.
“The most important aspect will be visual observation,” he said, highlighting three special windows located at the front of the craft and a series of video and stills cameras attached to the pods. They may not match the find of the crew in the fictional movie ’The Abyss’,but Sagalevich expects the mission to uncover previously unidentified species.
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